ROLE OF FAMILY LITERACY PRACTICES IN CHILDREN’S DEVELOPMENT
OF LITERACY SKILLS IN BOTSWANA
A THESIS
SUBMITTED TO THE GRADUATE SCHOOL IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF
THE REQUIREMENTS
FOR THE DEGREE
MASTERS OF SCIENCE IN FAMILY AND CONSUMER SCIENCES
BY
MAREA M. TSAMAASE
ADVISOR – SCOTT HALL, PHD
BALL STATE UNIVERSITY
MUNCIE, INDIANA
JULY 2010
ii
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
I am thankful to the almighty God who is “able to do immeasurably more
than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us.” I would
also like to thank my family for the support they provided me through my entire life
and in particular, I must acknowledge my husband and best friend, Oreeditse, without
whose love, encouragement and moral support, I would not have finished this thesis.
My sincere thanks also go to my two mums; Bonolo and Grace for their motherly love
and support throughout my life.
I am heartily thankful to my thesis chair, Dr. Scott Hall, whose expertise,
guidance, understanding, and patience, added considerably to my graduate
experience. I appreciate his vast knowledge and skill in research. I am also thankful to
my thesis committee members. Dr. Sue Whitaker, whose encouragement, supervision
and support during the preliminary stage of this project enabled me to develop a
clearer focus for this study. Dr. Becky Adams, her support, attention to detail, hard
work, and scholarship have set an example I hope to match some day. I am also
grateful to Dr. Kandiah, for serving in my thesis committee and giving me relevant
remarks, which improved this thesis.
In conclusion, I recognize that this research would not have been possible
without the financial assistance provided by Institute of International Education
(Fulbright scholarship). Lastly, I offer my regards and blessings to Setlhomo’s family,
my roommate Sarah, and all the people who supported me in any respect during the
completion of the project.
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TABLE OF CONTENT
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT ........................................................................................ iii
TABLE OF CONTENT ............................................................................................ iii
CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION ....................................................................... 1
Statement of the Problem ....................................................................................... 2
Rationale ................................................................................................................ 4
Definitions ............................................................................................................. 5
Summary ............................................................................................................... 5
CHAPTER TWO: LITERATURE REVIEW ............................................................ 7
Early Literacy Development ................................................................................... 7
Importance of Early Literacy Development ............................................................ 9
Home and Literacy Development ......................................................................... 10
Literacy Practices ................................................................................................. 12
Books and reading...................................................................................... 125
Play............................................................................................................ 127
Talk and communication ............................................................................ 127
Literacy reources/materials .......................................................................... 18
Participation in household chores ................................................................. 20
Summary ............................................................................................................. 20
CHAPTER THREE: METHODOLOGY ................................................................ 22
Sample Selection.................................................................................................. 23
Sampling Procedures............................................................................................ 23
Sample Size ......................................................................................................... 24
Instrumentation .................................................................................................... 24
Validity and Reliability ........................................................................................ 25
Data Collection Procedures .................................................................................. 26
Pilot Study ........................................................................................................... 28
Data Analysis ....................................................................................................... 28
Summary ............................................................................................................. 30
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CHAPTER FOUR: RESULTS................................................................................ 31
Description of Participants ................................................................................... 31
What Literacy Activities do Parents and Children do in the Home? ...................... 34
Reading and Wrting ..................................................................................... 34
Singing ........................................................................................................ 35
Drawing and Coloring .................................................................................. 35
Story Telling and Recitation of Rhymes ....................................................... 36
Play ............................................................................................................. 37
Household Chores ........................................................................................ 37
Vacation and Outdoor Activities .................................................................. 38
Television and Educational Toys .................................................................. 39
Activities done at Home to Promote Children’s Early Literacy Skills ................... 34
Things That Parents do when Reading with Their Child ....................................... 40
Discuss Pictures ........................................................................................... 40
Point and Repeat Words ............................................................................... 41
Mimic Characters ......................................................................................... 42
Back and Forth Conversation with Preschooler? ................................................... 43
What do you Normally Talk About?..................................................................... 44
Child’s Feelings ......................................................................................... 444
Events of the Day ......................................................................................... 34
Questions ..................................................................................................... 45
Materials/Resources Families Have ...................................................................... 45
Materials/Resources Families Use ...................................................................... 458
Other Community Places Used to Promote Children’s Literacy Skills .................. 50
Park and Game Reserve ............................................................................... 51
Places of Worship ........................................................................................ 51
Shopping Malls ............................................................................................ 51
Restaurants and offices................................................................................. 52
Public Library .............................................................................................. 52
Time Parents Spend Interacting With Their Preschool Children?........................ 544
Parents’ Beliefs about Promoting Early Literacy Development? ......................... 588
At What Age Should Early Literacy Skills be Developed? ................................... 62
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Is the Development of Early Literacy Skills Important?...................................... 633
What Kind of Assistance do Parents Need? ........................................................ 688
Summary ........................................................................................................... 699
CHAPTER FIVE: DISCUSSION ........................................................................... 71
What Activities do Parents and Children do in the Home? .................................... 71
Which Materials/Resources do Families Have? .................................................. 755
Which Materials/Resources do Families Use? .................................................... 766
How much time do Parents Spend with their Preschool Children? ...................... 788
What are Parents’ Beliefs About who Should Promote Preschool Children Early
Literacy Development? ...................................................................................... 788
Challenges Parents face in Promoting Children’s Literacy Skills? ...................... 799
Assistance Parents need ....................................................................................... 80
CHAPTER SIX: CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS ...................... 811
Conclusions ......................................................................................................... 81
Limitations ......................................................................................................... 844
Recommendations .............................................................................................. 866
References ............................................................................................................. 888
APPENDIX A ....................................................................................................... 933
Interview Questions ............................................................................................... 933
APPENDIX B ....................................................................................................... 944
Parent Questionnaire.............................................................................................. 944
APPENDIX C ....................................................................................................... 102
APPENDIX D ..................................................................................................... 1044
Permit: Department of Home Economics Education, University of Botswana ...... 1044
APPENDIX E...................................................................................................... 1055
IRB Approval ...................................................................................................... 1055
APPENDIX F ...................................................................................................... 1056
Participant Consent Form .................................................................................... 1066
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List of Tables
Participants Demographic Information………………………………….
33
Literacy Materials/Resources Participants had………………………….
47
Literacy Materials/Resources used………………………………………
49
Public Places visited with the child………………………………………
50
Literacy Activities that parents do with children………………………...
56
Telling Tales……………………………………………………………... 57
Type of Assistance Participants Need……………………………………
69
CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
In the past three decades, researchers gained enormous interest in the concept of
literacy development. This gave rise to a strong body of research and advocacy for
development of literacy skills as early as possible. Interestingly, some researchers have
identified the early years as a window of opportunity that should be seized to ensure a
successful future in children’s reading and writing (Siegler, Deloache & Eisengberg,
2006).
Senechal and LeFevre (2002) reported that research in early literacy development
has extended its focus to the home environment. The duo contended that the home setting
has become a critical place for children’s emergent reading and writing skills. Essentially,
the home provides the most primitive educational atmosphere for developing language
(Hart & Risley, 1995) and providing exposure to printed text (Lonigan & Whitehurst,
1998). Senechal and LeFevre (2002) explained that children need to have acquired
literacy knowledge and skills when they begin formal education.
Thus, understanding how the home literacy environment contributes to the
development of language and emergent literacy skills is critical in promoting successful
literacy acquisition as well as preventing reading failure. As a result, researchers
conducted numerous studies on home literacy environment, and these initial attempts
2
focused largely on parent-child book reading (Bennett, Weigel & Martin, 2002).
Contemporary research, however, has adopted a more comprehensive approach to
examining the home literacy environment. For example, Roberts, Jurgens and Burchinal
(2005) undertook a study to examine the role of home literacy practices in preschool
children’s language and emergent literacy skills. The study examined four measures of
home literacy practices: shared book reading frequency, maternal book reading strategies,
child enjoyment of reading and maternal sensitivity.
Even though the issue of early literacy practices in the home environment has
been explored extensively, very little is known about literacy practices in third world
countries. Fundamentally, studies have centered on more developed countries like the
United States, Australia and United Kingdom, leaving a vacuum of knowledge regarding
practices in countries like Botswana.
Statement of the Problem
It is without doubt that previous research has underscored the importance of the
role of family literacy practices in children’s development of literacy skills (Beals & De
Temple, 1993; Dickinson & Tabors, 1991; Teale, 1987). The existing evidence, however,
is based largely on studies that were carried out in more developed countries and few
similar studies (Geiger & Alant, 2005; Mathangwane & Arua, 2006; Molosiwa, 2007)
have been carried out in developing countries like Botswana. It should be noted that
developed and less developed countries differ significantly economically and culturally.
This variance obviously have an influence on the family lifestyles and therefore what is
embraced by families in one continent or country cannot be generalized to the other
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without solid evidence. Furthermore, accessibility to literacy resources is another factor
that adds to the disparity. Therefore, the researcher found it worthwhile to undertake a
comparable study in Botswana; a country classified as a developing country, in order to
provide empirical data from a different continent so as to contribute to the existing body
of research.
This move is also propelled by the fact that an overwhelming body of scholarship
connects children’s early literacy experiences with later success in reading and writing.
Despite increased interest in early literacy development and the influence of the home
environment, the few studies conducted in Botswana focused on child rearing practices
(Geiner & Alant, 2005); language and literacy issues (Molosiwa, 2006) which focused on
the use of Setswana versus English language; and parents’ attitudes towards reading
(Mathangwane & Arua, 2006). Even though these studies unveiled crucial information
about some aspects of literacy development in Botswana, they fell short of examining
what parents do to enhance children’s literacy development.
Also, none of these studies explored literacy development at an early stage, and
yet research has identified the early years as critical to language and literacy development
as well as important for children’s future success. Furthermore, the studies carried out in
Botswana were mainly conducted in rural areas. Therefore, it is beneficial to find out the
practices of the families in an urban area.
Hence this research study examined the family literacy practices embraced by
parents of the University of Botswana Child study center. The study was guided by the
following main research question and sub-questions:
1.
How do parents promote early literacy development of children?
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a) What literacy activities do parents and children do in the home?
b) Which literacy materials/resources do families have?
c) Which literacy materials/resources do families use?
d) How much time do parents spend interacting with their preschool children?
e) What are parents’ beliefs about who should promote preschool children early
literacy development?
f) What challenges do parents face in promoting children’s literacy skills?
g) What kind of assistance do parents need?
Rationale
Despite the volume of research studies that have alluded to the importance of
early literacy development, research on family literacy practices in Botswana is still
scarce. Therefore, it was necessary to conduct this type of study in Botswana in order to
develop effective education programs for parents. Given the deficiency of literature about
early literacy in Botswana, the outcome of this study may attract the interest of more
researchers to further explore other variables of early literacy development in Botswana.
This study also came at an opportune time as the Ministry of Education and Skills
Development in Botswana is intending to implement the first Early Childhood
Development national curriculum in the year 2010. Therefore this study may elicit
important information that can contribute to the enhancement of the curriculum.
The intent of this research study was to examine the family literacy practices
embraced by parents of children at the University of Botswana Child Study center. The
study identified existing gaps and its outcomes will provide information to assist in the
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development and implementation of parent education programs for the selected
community. It is also hoped that the results of the study will sensitize the parents and all
stakeholders about the importance of developing children’s early literacy skills. Further,
the study provides a unique contribution to the literature by adding new information to
the existing knowledge of family literacy practices and early literacy in developing
countries.
Definitions
For the purpose of this study the following definitions were used:

Early literacy: Refers to the acquisition of language and writing skills prior to
entering formal education (Siegler, Deloache, & Eisenberg, 2006).

Phonological awareness: The acquisition of knowledge about the sound system of
a language (Brock &Rankin, 2008).

Emergent literacy: The behaviors, knowledge, and attitudes related to reading and
writing that are acquired in the early years (Siegler, Deloache, & Eisenberg,
2006).
Summary
Home literacy practices and how it impacts on children’s early acquisition of
language and literacy skills have been accentuated by numerous research studies. Recent
developments, however, have seen a considerable number of researchers extending their
interest beyond book reading in an attempt to have extensive understanding of home
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literacy practices and its implications on children’s language and emergent literacy
development. Nevertheless, completed studies have been largely isolated to more
developed countries, thus creating a void in what is known about the home literacy
practices of families in third world countries. The next chapter presents the literature
review followed by the methodology in chapter 3.
CHAPTER TWO
LITERATURE REVIEW
Early literacy research has gained the interest of many researchers over the years.
This enormous interest led to a strong advocacy for development of literacy skills in the
early years of life. Nevertheless, this rich volume of research has been restricted to more
developed countries and has created a vacuum of knowledge regarding literacy practices
in third world countries. Currently very little is known about the literacy practices in
countries like Botswana. As a result, this study examined the family literacy practices
embraced by parents of the University of Botswana child development laboratory. This
review of literature therefore discusses early literacy development, its importance as well
as highlight home literacy practices and the interplay of culture. A summary concludes
this chapter.
Early Literacy Development
Early literacy development refers to the acquisition of language and writing skills
prior to entering formal education. Language development has been perceived as a
complex process that involves a series of skills and abilities (Senachal & Lefevre, 2002).
The process is critical though for one to be able to speak and comprehend what others
8
say, as well as be able to read. Thus, language acquisition involves learning the sounds
and patterns, the specific words, and how to combine words to form sentences (Siegler,
Deloache, & Eisenberg, 2006).
The scholarship of language development has seen an emergence of several
theoretical perspectives. Amongst these are three broad theoretical perspectives that will
be briefly discussed: the nativists, the connectionists, and the interactionists. Each of
these theories tends to have a differing focal point when it comes to language
development.
As observed by Siegler, Deloache, and Eisenberg (2006) the nativists like
Chomsky and Pinker believe that language is not learned like other types of behavior.
Humans are biologically wired to learn language at a particular time and in a certain
manner. This view maintains that children are born with the apparatus for language
development and because of this innate knowledge, children simply learn language
through hearing other people speak.
On the other hand, the connectionists propose that language learning is a result of
general purpose learning mechanisms. The other perspective is advanced by the
interactionists who argue that language development occurs due to the interplay of
biological, cognitive and environmental influences (Siegler, Deloache, & Eisenberg
2006). This view is heavily aligned to Vygotsky’s model of collaborative learning.
9
According to this perspective, children learn the patterns involved in language use
by holding conversations with older people. For instance, as children play with parents
and siblings they hear different words being used and recognize the use of words as well
as the social context in which language is used. This view is expounded by Dodici,
Draper and Peterson (2003) who asserted that children’s learning occurs as they interact
and play with the people in their environment. The interactionist theory is widely used by
language theorists. This study will be shaped by the perspectives of the interactionist
theory as it combines both the biological and environmental components.
Having discussed the theories of language development, it is imperative to
explore the importance of early literacy development which encompasses the
development of both language and writing skills.
Importance of Early Literacy Development
In recent years, researchers have underscored the importance of early literacy
development (Roberts, Jurgens, Burchinal, 2005; Senachal & Lefevre, 2002). Past
research studies have identified the period between birth and five years as an opportunity
that should be seized to ensure a successful future in children’s reading and writing
(Morrison, 2008; Siegler, Deloache & Eisengberg, 2006). The authors also stated that
language acquisition becomes more difficult and eventually less successful beyond the
age of five years.
There has been a general consensus among researchers that the development of
early literacy skills among children sets the stage for future learning (Bennet, Weigel, &
Martin, 2002; Senechal &LeFevre, 2002). Thus, researchers have identified the
10
development of early literacy skills as one of the strongest predictors of children’s
academic success (Werner & Smith, 1992). For instance, Walker, Greenwood, Hart, and
Carta (1994) found that preschoolers’ language abilities predicted their reading
achievements in grades one through three.
Interestingly, the development of literacy skills in the early years are not only
important for language and writing skills but are also critical to other areas of children’s
development: personal, social and emotional development; communication, language and
literacy; problem solving, reasoning and numeracy, knowledge and understanding of the
world, physical development and creative development (Brock & Rankin, 2008). With
this information, it makes sense then, that acquisition of literacy skills does not only
predict future academic success, but also signifies whether the child will function
competently and contribute actively in the society (Newman, Copple, & Bredekamp,
2000).
While the initial attempts that explored early literacy in the home focused largely
on parent-child book reading (Bennett, Weigel & Martin, 2002), more recent researchers
have extended their focus to examining the home literacy concept in a more
encompassing manner. For this reason, an understanding of the current home literacy
practices is essential for this study.
Home and Literacy Development
Given that early language and literacy development begins in the early years of
life, the home environment has attracted a lot of interest from researchers (Dodici, Draper
& Peterson, 2003; Rodriguez, 2006). The existing presumption is that the home context
11
impacts on young children’s literacy interactions, explorations, expressions, and
behaviors, contributing to literacy development (Saracho, 2002). Therefore, it is without
doubt that a significant number of homes provide literacy rich environments for their
children. This setting allows children to interact with literacy materials like books, paper,
and crayons, (Rodriguez, 2004) and with the adults in their lives.
In particular, parents who are directly involved with their children and also
encourage literacy related activities (Farver, Xu, Eppe & Lonigan, 2006) groom school
readiness skills. Thus, the language, reading and writing skills of children in such homes
are enhanced. This understanding is echoed by the research findings which allude to the
fact that children’s exposure to books is related to development of vocabulary and
listening comprehension skills (Senechal & LeFevre, 2002).
However, families differ in terms of culture and socio-economic status and this
creates variability in the type and amount of resources each individual family has. This
disparity has been revealed in several studies. For example, the findings of the study
conducted by Rodriguez (2004) showed that the literacy resources that were available in
the Dominican families included paper, notebooks, pencils and crayons. Another
dimension to this disparity has been highlighted in the study by Molosiwa (2007) which
revealed the bible and children’s school books as the only available resources in
Botswana homes.
With regard to socio-economic status, Weigel, Martin and Bennet (2005)
discovered that children whose parents had higher levels of education, incomes, literacy
skills and positive school experiences had higher verbal expression abilities, and their
comprehension of verbal language was also relatively higher. Although some studies
12
(Steensen, 2006) have uncovered that poor families can also have regular school-related
literacy activities with their children, the quality of activities done and the type of
resources used is bound to vary drastically with those of families who have a good socioeconomic standing. With this information in mind, it is not surprising that various
families have distinct home literacy practices.
Literacy Practices
Home literacy practices refer to the everyday activities that occur in the home,
that promote language and writing skills. A considerable number of researchers have
gained particular interest in exploring home literacy practices (Roberts, Jurgens &
Burchinal; Senechal & LeFvre 2002; Hughes, Schumm & Vaughn, 1999).
Literacy practices are embedded into the framework of everyday life. According
to Aram, Most and Mayafit (2006) literacy related activities include family interactions
and conversations, reading environmental print, storybook reading, joint writing, playing
with letters and watching educational television programs. Other researchers (Rodriguez,
2006) have expounded the list of literacy activities to include listening to music and
singing, library use and computers. Further, studies (Geiner & Alant, 2005) have revealed
that children learn literacy skills by watching the actions of the people in their homes. In
particular, “young children pay close attention to what they see the powerful and
significant people in their world doing and they imitate behaviors that seem to be
important to these people” (McLance & McNamee, 1990, p. 90)
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Culture also seems to define the literacy activities that occur in the family setting.
As argued by Barratt-Pugh and Rohl (2000) “literacy activities are mediated through the
values, beliefs and behaviors of the child’s culture” (p.7). In other words, the
development of literacy skills occurs as children participate in various daily activities and
cultural events.
The interplay of culture and literacy development is reflected in the study on
language and literacy practices in Dominican families in New York City which illustrated
that the families communicated in both Spanish and English, but Spanish was
emphasized for family communication (Rodriguez, 2006). The emphasis of Spanish in
family communication clearly highlights the value of culture for the Dominican families
studied. Similarly, the findings of the study by Geiner and Alant (2005) revealed that
literacy skills in Botswana were learned in the context of play with siblings and not the
parents. The authors further reported that:
Multi-level play was observed where children of various ages (ranging
from infants able to sit but not yet walking at 7-8 months, to school-going
age) would play together. Playing school, an older child would be the
teacher and ask other older children a question such as “what is two plus
two?” Once the older child had given an answer the teacher would turn
even to the youngest and command, “Say four!” (Geiner & Alant, 2005, p.
187)
The quote in the preceding paragraph symbolizes that literacy practices differ
from one culture to the other. While parents take a prime role in activities such as book
reading, storytelling, game playing and probably coloring with their children to facilitate
14
the development of literacy skills, mothers in Botswana rely on older siblings to pass the
literacy skills from one generation to the other (Geiner & Alant, 2005). This reaffirms the
argument that was raised in chapter one, which highlighted the influence of culture in
family practices.
The communal activity illustrated allows the children to learn from one another
(Rodriguez, 2006) presumably, the babies who grow within such a setting would have
acquired a variety of skills through playing with more competent siblings. In this type of
play there is some form of scaffolding instruction which is described by Vygotsky as an
act where a more knowledgeable person provides information or support to facilitate the
learner’s development (Siegler, Deloache, & Eisenberg, 2006).
Consistent with the findings by Geiner and Alant (2005); Rodriguez (2006) it is
reiterated that younger children were introduced to printed literacy materials by their
older siblings who attended school (Molosiwa, 2007). This is mainly because family and
community literacy in Botswana is predominantly oral (Molosiwa, 2007), which implies
that there may be few or no printed materials like reading and coloring books in the
majority homesteads rendering many children to grow up in settings which have no
printed literacy resources.
However, research has argued that parents who place greater importance on their
children’s literacy and language development, and who value parental role in their
children’s development, engage their children in literacy and language enhancing
activities on a regular basis (Weigel et al., 2006). Hence, some of the common examples
of activities that are perceived to enhance literacy development include reading books;
15
scribbling, drawing, coloring or writing notes to friends; visiting the library regularly,
talking or communicating, and pointing out letters, sounds, signs and labels. One of the
interesting dimensions of early literacy research is the accessibility of literacy resources
to children. The ownership of basic literacy materials like paper, pencils, and crayons is
restricted to school going children in some cultures (Rodriguez, 2006).
Books and reading. Although several studies have indicated that children are
capable of learning reading and writing skills at home, this only seems to occur in a
literate environment in which books are valued and family members model reading and
writing to the children (Oglan & Elcombe, 2000). For instance, the findings of the studies
undertaken by Perry et al., (2008); Rodriguez (2006) showed that reading and writing
were ingrained in the daily lives of the families that participated in the two studies.
Besides, previous studies (Weigel, et al., 2006) also showed that children’s interest was
aroused when they participated in literacy and language activities with parents. It also
appears that the presence of books in the home and the presence of a family member who
is keen to read and write with the child aides in developing the child’s interest in reading
and writing.
Reading stories to and with children is a worthwhile activity that promotes
literacy development (Aram, Most & Mayafit, 2006). In essence, stories help children
learn about life, emotion, culture and morals (Brock & Rankin, 2008) and this enables the
children to develop understanding of the world around them. Stories also offer pleasure
and enjoyment and enable children to develop a sense of creativity and imagination.
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Further, stories are crucial to children’s understanding of language structure and
vocabulary (Brock & Rankin, 2008). Reading stories to children help them recognize the
structural organization of stories which include the beginning, middle and end. This
knowledge becomes handy when children start telling stories or writing stories as they
would know how to order the events for their tale. Also, storytelling introduces children
to literacy skills, equipping them to be confident in the use of words and communication.
Therefore, storytelling is perceived as a powerful medium for the development of spoken
word (Brock & Rankin, 2008).
It should be noted however that even with such strong support for story telling or
reading, some studies have unveiled that a disparity exists in the amount of time families
invest in reading stories to children and the approaches they use. One such study was
conducted by Stavans, Olshtain, and Goldzweig (2009) who found that Ethiopian parents
in Israel read to their young children every day, and read once a week for older children.
Another qualitative study conducted by Molosiwa (2007) discovered that reading to
young children was not common in Botswana, instead story telling was commonly used
and it was predominantly oral; parents did not read from any story books. This form of
storytelling is applauded by Cutspec (2006) who maintain that oral storytelling is an
artistic alternative to print-based literacy that can be shared by parents and young
children.
Even though many parents can read to or tell children stories, keeping the
children’s interest throughout the process can be challenging. To avert boredom mothers
in the study that was conducted by Bingham (2007) enhanced children’s participation in
the book-reading activity by asking questions, directing children’s attention to pictures
17
and pausing during reading to allow the children time to participate. Other than
storytelling, it has been argued that literacy skills can also be acquired through play.
Play. Play gives the children an opportunity to create events which allow them to
experience the use of literacy skills in the literal sense (Barratt-Pugh & Rohl, 2000). As
mentioned by Makin and Whitehead (2004), playing with other children or with parents
is a huge boost to language development as it demands the use of excellent
communication, language and diplomacy skills. Thus, through play, the children actively
practice and refine their language skills. However, it is important that adults are involved
in children’s play activities (Brock & Rankin, 2008) to make them more meaningful.
Talk and communication. Talking to or with children appears to play a pivotal
role in the development of literacy skills in several ways. According to Makin and
Whitehead (2004), talk in any language enables children to:
Communicate with other people and express their own needs and feelings;
Sort out their own ideas;
Share their ideas, feelings and interests;
Reflect on past experiences and make sense of them;
Sort out new experiences and link them to things they really know;
Enjoy the sounds of languages and play with rhymes and rhythms;
Realize gradually that what people say is often written down as signs, messages
and notices (p.51).
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While holding conversations with children was deemed essential by the
Dominican families in New York (Rodriguez, 2006) some studies have discovered that
children in some communities are discouraged to reciprocate when elderly people talk to
them. A study by Geiner and Alant (2005) revealed that children in Botswana were
expected to listen quietly and not answer back or ask questions when adults talked to
them. The authors further explained that children were either ignored or strongly
reprimanded if they attempted to interrupt adults or asked questions. But acquisition of
early literacy skills is highly depended on the people around the child, through watching,
listening and participating in conversations, young children begin to learn the
conventions of turn-taking in communication (Brock & Rankin, 2008).
Literacy resources/materials. Several materials and resources are essential to a
literacy rich environment. One such resource is a collection of quality books. It is
important that children have easy access to books (Makin & Whitehead, 2004) to enable
them to interact with words and print. Also, several audio tapes including those that have
stories similar to those in children’s popular books provide another dimension of
storytelling. The advantage of this resource is that it grants children an opportunity to
listen to a story while at the same time matching the sounds they hear with the words they
see on the book (Makin & Whitehead, 2004).
Another resourceful tool for literacy development found in many contemporary
homes is the computer. Accordingly, the computer enables children to convert their
thoughts into print, which they can read, rethink and revise (Casey, 2000). In addition,
computer programs have transformed children’s learning to make it more interactive and
19
enjoyable. This important gadget however, is sparsely available in many family homes.
For instance, in a study that was conducted by Rodriguez (2004) only one out of the
seven families that participated in the study owned a computer while the rest could not
afford it.
The use of computers in early literacy development is still a grey area that is still
being investigated. Few studies that have been carried out on the use of computers by
preschoolers do not give a clear direction of which pathway should be followed. The
studies contended that home computer use enhances children's ability to read and
visualize images (Subrahmanyam, Kraut, Greenfield, & Gross, 2000) while
simultaneously warning that the use of this gadget may prevent the child from
differentiating real life from imitation.
The library serves as another important resource for developing children’s literacy
skills. With the understanding that families vary in terms of socio-economic status, the
community libraries provide free and easy access to books and other materials that can be
used to enhance children’s literacy development. The benefits of introducing children to
the use of the library in the early years develops children’s confidence in book handling,
story reading and finding information from reference books to support later learning
(Brock & Rankin, 2008) . Access to the libraries has also improved in developing
countries like Botswana. Nowadays, parents in Botswana can visit public libraries and
access books and other literacy materials free of charge. Similarly, computers are no
longer perceived as luxury but are seen as a necessity in every household. However, it is
not clear whether these important resources are effectively utilized in enhancing
children’s literacy skills.
20
Participation in household chores. Children’s participation in household chores
provides opportune time for observation, participation, questioning and explanations.
Apart from creating moments for family bonding, children’s involvement in family tasks
has been recognized as a powerful tool for promoting children’s language development
(Akhtar & Jipson, 2001). Actually, children in diverse communities develop clear
understanding of language use and speaking through observing and imitating language
others use (Rogoff, Paradise, Arauz, Correa-Chavez & Angelillo, 2003). For instance, In
Botswana young children spend their entire time accompanying their mothers as they
performed household chores or work in the farms (Geiner and Alant 2005). It can be
assumed that these activities give young children a chance to observe firsthand the
processes involved in carrying out the tasks. In addition, it can be speculated that they
acquired a great deal of language by being in constant company of family members who
spoke fluently.
Summary
The review highlighted the importance of early literacy development and the
findings of studies that have been done on the field. The availability of resources in the
home is one of the key elements in literacy development, even though it is apparent that
some families still thrive in literacy development without resources. Further, the review
illustrated cultural differences that exist among families regarding literacy practices.
While printed material and child-adult communication are valued in many households of
developed countries, they seem to be of less value in Botswana homes. With this
interesting finding, it is clear that early literacy research needs to be extended to other
21
parts of the world to enrich the current knowledge with new and different evidence. In
light of the literature, this study therefore aims at examining the early literacy practices
used by parents of preschool children in Botswana so as to contribute new evidence to the
current knowledge.
CHAPTER THREE
METHODOLOGY
This study used a phenomenological qualitative approach to examine the early
literacy practices used by parents of preschool children in Botswana. However,
quantitative responses collected using the questionnaires were used to validate the
interview responses. Thus, the responses from the two instruments were compared to
ensure that the data gathered through interviews was accurate. The quantitative questions
focused on gathering information on demographic data, literacy activities that parents
use, and materials and resources used to promote literacy development.
Qualitative research is an approach that is used to investigate and understand the
meaning that individuals or groups ascribe to a social or human problem (Cresswell,
2009). More precisely, qualitative researchers who utilize the phenomenological
technique “attempt to gain entry into the conceptual world of their subjects in order to
understand how and what meaning they construct” (Bogdan and Biklen, 1998, p.23). The
approach was deemed appropriate for this study because first it allowed the researcher to
study a small sample of subjects (Creswell, 2009), and secondly, gave the researcher an
opportunity to understand the phenomenon from the participants’ perspectives (Bogdan
and Biklen, 1998) and provided relevant answers for the study. In general, qualitative
research permits the researcher to collect in-depth understanding of human behavior and
23
the reasons surrounding such behavior. Further, qualitative research makes use of smaller
but focused samples rather than large random samples.
This chapter therefore, serves to describe the methods that were used for
conducting this study. These include sample selection, sampling procedures, sample size,
instrumentation, data analysis procedures and IRB approval.
Sample Selection
The target population for this study was parents of preschoolers enrolled at the
University of Botswana child development laboratory. Only one parent from each family
was used for the study. The targeted population consisted of families of students, faculty
members and support staff. Given the heterogeneity of the population, the education level
of participants varied expansively.
Sampling Procedures
It was essential for the researcher to ensure that the research participants used for
research met the criteria required to fulfill the intent of the study. To satisfy this, the
researcher used purposive sampling to obtain the sample for the study. This method
allowed the researcher to choose the participants that possessed characteristics that make
them good informants for the research problem (Orcher, 2005). The subjects were
selected on the basis of being parents of the preschoolers enrolled at the University of
Botswana Child Development laboratory. Further the site was chosen because the
researcher is an employee of the department and therefore, it was much easier to gain
access to the parents within the University of Botswana child development laboratory
24
than it was with other sites. Besides, the ultimate intention of the researcher is to design
parenting programs for the selected site and therefore it was mandatory to conduct the
study in the selected site.
Sample Size
As observed by Orcher (2005) samples used in qualitative research tend to be
smaller, and often much smaller, than samples used in quantitative research. This is
because qualitative researchers unlike the quantitative researchers emphasize depth of the
selected group rather than the appropriateness of the sample to form generalizations to
the larger population (Orcher, 2005). Furthermore, Marshall (1996) noted that “an
appropriate sample size for qualitative study is one that adequately answers the research
question (p. 523)” of the study. The study therefore recruited all 18 families represented
in the Child Development laboratory of the University of Botswana to participate in the
study. However, only 14 parents participated in the study. Thus, a sample size of 14
parents was used as a reasonable number of subjects to complete a questionnaire and
interview in depth over a period of two weeks.
Instrumentation
Two instruments were used to gather data for this study: a semi-structured
interview protocol (Appendix A) and a closed-ended questionnaire (Appendix B). The
questionnaire contained a total of 16 closed-ended questions. The questionnaire items
included multiple choice questions, as well as categorical and numerical questions. The
information covered demographic, literacy activities, literacy materials/resources, and
25
parent/child interaction. One of the guidelines for constructing questionnaires provided
by Gay, Mills and Airisian (2009) is to “use structured items with a variety of possible
responses” (p.373). This format helps to reduce the time required to complete the
questionnaire.
In addition, the researcher conducted face-to-face interviews with the participants.
A semi-structured interview protocol containing ten guiding questions was used to obtain
qualitative data from the research participants. The interview protocol contained a core
set of questions that were asked the participants, while allowing the researcher to add
additional questions as needed to explore unexpected findings. The interview protocol
illustrated the order in which the interview was carried out (Orcher, 2005). The major
advantage of the interview was that it provided important data that could not be obtained
through observation (Gay, Mills & Airasian, 2009). In other words, the interview yielded
rich material as well as put flesh on the bones of observation or questionnaire responses.
Validity and Reliability
Issues of validity and reliability are considered important in both qualitative and
quantitative research. However, they are viewed differently. It is therefore important that
data collecting techniques such as questionnaires and interviews always meet the
standards of validity for the data to achieve credibility and dependability. While
quantitative researchers talk about reliability or consistency and reusability of research
findings, qualitative researchers emphasize trustworthiness, rigor and quality of research
findings. Thus, “qualitative researchers establish the trustworthiness of their research by
addressing the credibility, transferability, dependability, and confirmability of their
26
studies and findings” (Gay Mills & Airasian, 2009, p.375). In essence, qualitative validity
refers to establishing the truthfulness of the findings following specific procedures
(Cresswell, 2009).
Several procedures were used to establish the validity and reliability of the study.
The researcher checked the transcripts for obvious mistakes made during transcribing. A
detailed description was used to convey the findings of the study. In addition,
triangulation of the questionnaire and in-depth interviews was used to determine if the
information given on the questionnaire was consistent with data gathered through
interview.
Further, peer debriefing and submission of the report to the thesis committee were
used to enhance the accuracy of the description. Peer debriefing is “having a qualified
researcher who is not directly involved in the data collection or the analysis of the results
consult with the researcher” (Orcher, 2005, p.73). The role of the peer debriefer is to
facilitate the researcher's consideration of methodological activities and provide feedback
concerning the accuracy and completeness of the researcher's data collection and data
analysis procedures. According to Orcher (2005) a member of the thesis or dissertation
committee may perform this activity to enhance the validity of a qualitative study
(Cresswell, 2009).
Data Collection Procedures
Prior to conducting the study, permission for conducting research was obtained
from the Ministry of Education in Botswana (Appendix C) and subsequently from the
department of Home Economics Education of the University of Botswana (Appendix D).
27
Since this research study involves human subjects, the researcher obtained IRB approval
(Appendix E) prior to conducting the study.
Consequently, data collection for this study was done through the use of a
questionnaire containing closed ended questions. Parents who volunteered to participate
in the study completed a consent form (Appendix F) before being interviewed. Each
participant then received a questionnaire to complete at home and return to the University
of Botswana Child Development laboratory.
The face-to-face interviews were conducted by the researcher at the Child
Development Laboratory premises. The researcher introduced herself and presented the
purpose of the interview to the participant. This was followed by the discussion of the
interview procedure, participant introduction, rapport building, the interview discussion,
conclusion and thanking the participant.
A tape recorder was used to record the interview responses. In addition, a brief
summary of the important aspects of the interview and notes on participant’s body
language and emotional mood were recorded soon after the interview. According to
Orcher (2005) recording interviews using a tape recorder has an advantage of generating
a comprehensive record of participant’s reaction. On the other hand, it has been noted
that a small number of participants may shy away from being tape recorded (Gay, Mills
& Airasian, 2009). In this study, the latter was minimized by assuring the participants
that the information gathered shall be treated with utmost confidentiality. Both data on
paper and data on audio tapes were stored in locked cabinets at the researcher’s place of
residence.
28
Pilot Study
“A pilot test of an instrument in qualitative research is less crucial than in
quantitative research because it is acceptable for qualitative researchers to modify their
instruments (e.g., interview schedules) as they collect data.” (Orcher, 2005, p.132).
Therefore, there was no pilot study conducted for this research. Instead, the researcher
used the interviewing skills experience derived from conducting interviews in the studies
she has performed previously.
Data Analysis
Data collected through closed-ended questions of the questionnaire were coded and
analyzed through the use of computer-aided software known as Statistical Package for the
Social Sciences (SPSS 18). For this data frequency tables were used to reflect the responses
in percentages.
On the other hand, qualitative data collected through interviews mainly consisted
of quotations from people about their experiences, opinions, feelings and knowledge.
Therefore, analysis of this data followed a pattern proposed by Bogdan and Biklen (2006)
who asserted that analysis of qualitative data “involves working with data, organizing
them, breaking them into manageable units, synthesizing them searching for emerging
patterns, deciding what important and is what is to be learned and deciding what you will
tell others” (p.157).
Consistent with the phenomenological method, data analysis followed several
processes. First the researcher organized (Kahn and Best, 2006) and prepared the
collected data for analysis by transcribing interviews. Since a standard interview format
29
was used with all the fourteen participants, answers were grouped across respondents
(Kahn and Best, 2006). The researcher then read through all the prepared data to gain a
general sense of the ideas (Creswell, 2009), the tone and the overall depth of the collected
data. This process included demarcating the information into different segments.
Secondly, the coding process began. Coding is “the process of categorically
marking or referencing units of text with codes and labels as a way to indicate patterns
and meanings (Gay, et al., 2009).” Each segment was highlighted with a different color
and coded or labeled with either a term or phrase. The labels used were based on the
actual language of the participants (Creswell, 2009). The segments were categorized by
examining the participants’ transcripts and identifying significant statements/ meanings.
Provisional themes that emerged from the statements were then identified and compared.
Initially, each interview question generated many provisional themes.
After careful comparison of the themes, some of the identified themes were
merged (Creswell, 2009) until the researcher remained with the main themes that are
relevant to the study questions. This process was achieved after the researcher accurately
read and comprehended similarities and differences across various text passages. Thus,
the text passages that contained identical themes were coded the same way, and passages
containing different themes received different codes. Finally, the researcher gathered data
that belonged to each category in one place, interpreted it and presented the findings in
narrative passages.
If the study had a larger sample (25 to 30 participants), a test of significance
would be done at p > .05. The test was not conducted on this study because the sample
size was small; 14 participants. Instead, methodological triangulation was used for the
30
study. The findings of the questionnaire and interviews revealed some inconsistencies
which impacted on the validity of the findings, therefore, the findings were interpreted
cautiously.
Summary
This chapter illustrated the use of the phenomenological qualitative approach to
investigate the research questions for the study. It further outlined the different strategies
that were used for sample selection, instrumentation, and data analysis procedures.
CHAPTER FOUR
RESULTS
The purpose of this study was to examine the family literacy practices embraced
by parents of the University of Botswana child development laboratory. This chapter
presents the results according to the research questions of the study. The sections
included are description of participants, findings of research sub-questions one to seven
and summary.
Description of Participants
The population of the study included parents of children enrolled at the University
of Botswana Child Development laboratory. The targeted population consisted of
families of students, faculty members and support staff. Fourteen out of eighteen parents
who were recruited participated in the study. Thus, a response rate of 78% was achieved.
The rest of the participants did not take part because they were either out of the city or
had time constraints.
Demographic data were obtained from items 1 to 5 on the questionnaire. The
demographic data are presented in Table 1. Of the fourteen participants, 35.7% were
males while 64.3% were females. It should be noted that all mothers that participated in
this study were either employed on a full-time basis or University students. The majority
32
of participants 71.4% (n=10) fell between the ages of 36 and 45years, and both age
categories of 25 years or below and 26 to 35 years had 14.3% (n=2) each. Participants’
educational levels varied; 14.3% (n=2) had certificate, 21.4% (n=3) diploma, 28.6%
(n=4) undergraduate degree, 21.4 (n=3) Masters Degree and 14.3% (n=2) had PhD.
The positions held by participants were also different. The majority of participants
57.1% (n=8) held support staff positions, while academic staff members made a total of
28.6% (n=4) and only 14.3% (n=3) were students. All the participants had only one child
enrolled in the University of Botswana Child Development Laboratory. The majority of
participants 64.3% (n=9) had children between three and four years of age and the
remaining 35.7% (n=5) of the participants had children between two and half and three
years of age.
33
Table 1
Participants Demographic Information
Demographic variables
Male
Gender
Female
Age
Age of the
Child
Percentage
35.7%
64.3%
25 years
or below
25-35 years
2
14.3%
2
14.3%
36-45 years
10
71.4%
2
3
14.3%
21.4%
Undergraduate
4
28.6%
Master
3
21.4%
PhD
2
14.3%
Academic staff
Support staff
4
8
28.6%
57.1%
Student
2
14.3
Other
0
0
2.5-3 years
3-4 years
5
9
35.7%
64.3%
Educational Certificate
Qualification Diploma
Current
Position
Frequency
5
9
As previously stated in the methodology section, qualitative data for the study
was analyzed following the phenomenological qualitative approach. The findings
obtained are therefore presented in narrative form under the research questions of the
study.
34
Research Sub-Question One: What Literacy Activities do Parents and Children do
in the Home?
Data for the research sub-question that aimed at identifying activities parents do
with their children at home were derived from the interview questions 4, 5, 8 and 9. The
themes derived from the interview questions are presented below.
Activities done at Home to Promote Children’s Early Literacy Skills
The interview question that looked into the literacy activities that are carried out
at home to promote children’s early literacy development yielded eight themes. All the
participants mentioned several literacy enhancing activities that occur within the home
setting and those are captured as the themes that emerged: reading and writing, singing,
drawing and coloring, storytelling and reciting rhymes, play, household chores, vacation
and outdoor activities, and television and educational toys. These themes are discussed in
the paragraphs that follow.
Reading and writing. More than half of the participants 64.3% (n=9) disclosed
that they read and wrote with their preschool children. Participants indicated that they
read story books, picture books and the bible to their preschool children. In addition, two
of the nine participants (14.3%) mentioned that they also used posters and flash cards for
reading. Even though participants revealed that they did not have any schedule for
reading, the information they shared indicated that reading often took place in the
35
evenings. It also transpired that the older siblings equally played a role in reading to their
younger brothers and sisters.
One common challenge that participants raised concerning reading to their
children was the fact that their children had very short attention spans which made it
difficult for them to stay put during the story reading process. With regard to writing,
participants stated that even though they tried to provide the opportunities for writing
their children were very small and the best they could do was scribble.
Singing. Six out of fourteen participants (42.9%) revealed that they sing to/with
their children. One participant pointed out that “you sing with them while you are home,
they can learn from that. Just sing with them when you are listening to music, sing that
song with them …, gospel music. Eventually they know the meaning of the song.” As
illustrated by the participant quote above, singing gospel music appeared to be most
popular amongst the participants. Participants also indicated that they sometimes sing
popular children’s songs. They further mentioned that their children often led the songs
and they joined in to assist with proper pronunciation of the song words. It appeared that
siblings also assisted with singing to/with the younger children and that sometimes the
younger children learned songs from their older siblings.
Drawing and coloring. The findings revealed that drawing and coloring were not
popularly used by the participants as only 14.3% (n=2) indicated that they provided
drawing and coloring opportunities for their preschool children. These participants also
mentioned that they also do cutting and pasting activities with their children. The findings
36
obtained through the interview question was inconsistent with data obtained using the
questionnaire (items 12, 13 and 14). While the interview questions indicated that only
14.3% (n=2) of participants drew and colored with their preschool children, questionnaire
item 12 of the indicated that 100% (n=14) of participants had crayons, 78.6% (n=11) had
coloring books and 92.9% (n=13) had pencils. The variance between the two results may
be qualified by presuming that most participants had the resources but only a few
participants used them with their preschoolers.
On the other hand, the results for questionnaire item 13 reflected that 78.6%
(n=11) used crayons, 92.9% (n=13) used coloring books and 100% (n=14) used pencils.
The findings indicate that more participants used pencils and coloring books and yet a
smaller percentage of participants indicated that they have these resources. The
discrepancy between the findings of questionnaire item 12 and 13 clearly shows that the
information provided by the participants may not be a true reflection of their practice.
Thus, rendering the information provided by the participants questionable because there
is no corroboration between the findings of the two items Therefore, the findings of the
interview question 1 were solely used as a true indication of the writing and drawing
activities.
Storytelling and recitation rhymes. Very few participants 21.4% (n=3) stated
that they do story or tale telling and recitation of poems. However, participants
highlighted that telling tales was not frequently done. When quizzed about the poems
they recite with the children, the participants disclosed that they recited popular
children’s rhymes like “baa baa black sheep.” These findings were also divergent from
37
the information gathered through the questionnaire which showed a higher 35.7% (n=7)
percentage.
Play. Over half 57.1% (n=8) of the participants declared that they have play
moments with their preschool children. Participants revealed that play could involve the
entire family, the siblings only or the preschooler alone. It also became apparent that
participants engaged in both traditional and conventional games when playing with their
children. One of the traditional games mentioned was “ha go jela mang?” (“Who eats
here?” -pointing to different parts of the arm, and the child has to say the names of
different people and then they get tickled).
Other games disclosed by participants included playing with water, skipping with a rope,
climbing up and down a hill, running around the yard, or playing with trash as one of the
participant commented:
“I think kids like to play outdoors. My kids love to play outdoors, playing
with … sometimes with trash, sometimes with soil, sometimes they like
making fire. It’s not a game but to them it’s fun. Sometimes they try to fix
things when I’m working around the yard.”
From the participant’s comments it was clear that play at their homes was not structured
and it also followed several forms.
Household chores. A small percentage of participants 14.3% (n=2) disclosed that
they engaged their preschool children in household chores. Participants specified that
they involved their preschool children in cooking and gardening activities, one participant
38
remarked: “Also we cook together, I show him this is an apple, this is how we chop it,
you know we have to wash it first, and do this… and that… to come up with this. So we
are constantly talking during such activities.” As illustrated by the comment above,
household activities involved some scaffolding as the activities provided opportunities
for children to see the processes involved being performed by competent family
members, learn new things, ask questions, and also get explanations for what they see.
It is generally known that children learn through observation and participation
therefore, engaging them in household chores gives them an opportunity to acquire
language skills and knowledge of the processes involved in various activities they
observed. It is nevertheless, not surprising that only a few participants felt that engaging
children in household chores helped develop the children’s literacy skills because it is
often taken for granted or overlooked (Rogoff, et al., 2003).
Vacation and outdoor activities. Out of the fourteen participants, only two
(14.3%) revealed that they take occasional family vacations and also go on outdoor
activities with their preschool children. For outdoor activities, one of the participants
reiterated that:
“I think kids like to play outdoors. My kids love to play outdoors, playing with …
sometimes with trash, sometimes with soil, sometimes they like making fire. It’s
not a game but to them it’s fun. Sometimes they try to fix the things when I’m
working around the yard. They say “papa can I help you?’ Some of them are not
structured, to me sometimes its work, to them its games.
39
The other outdoor activities mentioned by the participants included; taking walks with the
children around their neighborhoods, going for picnics in the park, and taking their
children to visit friends and relatives. One of the participant further mentioned taking the
preschool child with the family whenever they visit the family farm. Participants felt that
taking family vacations and engaging in outdoor activities helped children to acquire new
knowledge.
Television and educational toys. Only 35.7% (n=5) of the participants indicated
that watching television and playing with educational toys were part of the activities they
had in their homes. Nevertheless, the participants were quick to qualify that not all
television programs were good for the children and that they only allow their children to
watch educational programs on the television. Some of the examples of the television
programs that the participants felt were good for their preschoolers included “Sesame
Street and Barney.” Participants highlighted that they usually prompt their preschoolers’
learning by asking them questions to see if they understand what the television program
shows.
With regard to educational toys, participants did not give any specific examples of
the type of toys they have for their children but they made it clear that they were against
their children playing with “violent” toys like guns. This reaction is illustrated in the
comment made by one of the participants, who said: “With us I think it’s just having
critical things which the child could use in the form of toys, which are influential in
learning. Not toys like guns for instance; to me they are just useless. Toys which can help
40
the child in the future to read and learn things and also maybe cartoon CD’s, something
which impacts positively on the child.”
Participants also appreciated the use of puzzles. They felt that puzzles enhance the
children’s thinking capability. Overall, participants had the opinion that “appropriate”
toys were good as they allowed the children to explore on their own.
Things That Parents do when Reading with Their Child which help the Child
Become Literate
Four themes emerged from the interview question aimed at identifying what
parents do when reading to their children to help them become literate. The generated
themes include; discuss pictures, point and repeat words, mimic characters and never
read. The themes are discussed below.
Discuss pictures. Of the nine participants who read to their children, 64.3%
indicated that they discussed the pictures in the story book while reading to their
preschool children. Some of the participants revealed that they did not usually do it but
either the mother or children’s older siblings discussed the pictures with the preschoolers
during storytelling, this is reflected in what was mentioned by one participant who said
“…well, the siblings do it, but I often hear them talking about the pictures in the book
and sometimes asking her to say the words after them.” Participants stated that pointing
to pictures is one way of getting the children’s attention. Further, they mentioned that it
41
helps to involve the children during story reading.
The observations made by
participants are consistent with what has been discussed in research.
Participants also highlighted the challenges that they meet while reading the
stories to their children. One participant had this to say: “It’s very difficult to get his
concentration. Most of the time when you start reading, he starts saying the story like
“once upon a time,” then he will add “there was a princess, what, what, what…. So I
realized that he doesn’t have much interest, although I show him pictures and the like, he
doesn’t concentrate that much when I read.”
It appeared that most of the participants read story books to their children.
However, one participant indicated that they sometimes used magazines like “baby and
you” for their preschool child. Nevertheless, the participant clarified that they did not
read the articles in the magazine with the child but rather used it for discussing pictures.
Point and repeat words. Eight out of the fourteen (57.1%) participants said that
they pointed to the words and asked children to repeat the words they said during story
telling. One participant made the following comment, “When I read I make sure that I
point to each word and I pronounce it and make her repeat it so that she can know how to
pronounce some words and that helps also in language.” As mentioned by the
participants, involvement of actions helped the children learn new words and proper
pronunciation of the words. Further, participants hinted that they sometimes asked
children to retell the story they listened to just to see if they could follow the events
narrated in the story. They also added that they did that with the understanding that the
children were small and may not remember everything that was said during story telling.
42
Participants also disclosed that sometimes the children were the ones who initiated
retelling the stories.
Mimic characters. At least 7.1% (n=1) of the participants mentioned that story
time at their home is lively and fun. In particular the participant illustrated this by stating
that “I love reading stories to my son, and what I love about the bedtime stories, they
have different characters and those characters have their own… you know…um…
temperaments and characteristics. So I try by all means to mimic those characters… you
know, do the action, do the funny sounds yeah! Laughing with him, tickling him, and all
that brings live and fun to storytelling time.” Accordingly, adding life to the story
motivates the child (Bingham 2007) to gain interest in storytelling.
Never read. Surprisingly, 21.4% (n=3) of the participants openly revealed that
they never read to their preschool children. Participants sounded shocked when asked
what they do when reading to their preschool children to help them become literate. One
of the participants could not conceal their reaction by uttering: “Reading to who? The
little one? No…, no I never read to him.” The three participants were candid about the
reasons why they never read to their preschool children. Some of the reasons given were
that the children were too young to be read to, and that they are too tired to read to the
children after work.
The other participant however, went further to explain, “I think maybe I am
undermining her. I think so. But I know reading is important. I don’t know why, but she
will be turning four years and I never ever even get a story book to read with her at
43
home.” Participants also gave insights into the fact that their children usually showed the
desire to be read to. They cited incidents where children have scribbled on their reading
books or held their books upside down, attempting to read by themselves.
When probed about their reaction to the children when they scribbled or held the
book upside down, one of the participants declared that “I just say, Nolly don’t color in
that book it’s for reading. Put it like this and you read. And she will just be murmuring.
Yesterday she was reading something here, I didn’t even… oh no… I’m often so tired.
Isn’t it I have to build from there…, but instead I will be ignoring her attempts.” From the
data gathered from participants it was clear that they understood the essence of reading to
their children but lacked the initiative to do it.
How often do you have a Back and Forth Conversation with Your Preschooler?
All the participants 100% (n=14) disclosed that they had a back and forth
conversation with their preschoolers on a daily basis, as one participant said “No, that one
is almost every day. But the discussion is general; it’s not usually based on any specific
topic. It’s just talking.” Participants also highlighted that they usually had more than a
single back and forth conversations with their children in a day, “um… we do have often.
Um… on a daily basis more than three times in a day, and because he is very talkative
too.” According to the participants the back and forth conversations took place anywhere,
be it at home or any other place that the parent would have visited with the child.
Typically, conversing with children help them practice language, listening skills as well
as increase their vocabulary.
44
What do you Normally Talk About to Promote Your Child’s Literacy Skills?
All the participants 100% (n=14) informed the researcher that they talked about
general topics with their preschool children. Participants insisted that the conversations
were unstructured and covered a wide range of topics; “well, probably for them to reflect
on their coming from school, the school, the night sleep or anything, it’s open. I must be
honest, normally I don’t structure the conversation. It’s just anything that they pick up.
They can pick up a tree as we pass by.” The themes that emerged are discussed in detail
in the following pages.
Child’s feelings. Participants indicated that the back and forth conversation
sometimes is centered on the child’s feelings. It became apparent that the conversation
may be started by either the parent or the child. Participants further mentioned that they
usually asked the children how they were feeling in the morning and when they collected
the children from the preschool. They also hinted that the children sometimes initiated the
conversations by informing the parents about their feelings.
Events of the day. According to participants, back and forth conversations
between them and the preschoolers also focused on the child’s experience of each day.
Participants shared that the children were usually eager to tell their parents the activities
they did at school and their experiences with other children or the teacher. Furthermore,
participants disclosed that sometimes they asked questions to prompt the discussion about
the child’s experience at school as illustrated by the statement made by the participant
45
“Ok, sometimes we just talk about his experience at school. I ask him “How was school?
Can you tell me about school?” Then sometimes he doesn’t like to tell me the exact
words, “the school was like” instead he will be demonstrating, and I will interpret his
actions and understand what they were doing.” Overall, participants felt that back and
forth conversations were learning moments for their children. They believed that children
expanded their vocabulary through conversations.
Questions. Participants felt that the preschool children were inquisitive as they
confronted them with endless questions. A comment made by one of the participants was
“every time he comes, he wants to talk and every time he will be asking “why?”
Accordingly, the participants said that the questions asked by the children helped to
create back and forth conversations between themselves and their preschool children. In
addition, participants stated that the questions for discussion often stemmed from
anything; the trees, cars or houses they passed. Some questions regarded the different
things in the home or the activities they saw taking place in the home setting.
Research Sub-Question Two: Which Literacy Materials/Resources do Families
Have?
The questionnaire item 12 was used to gather information for the research
question that sought to identify the material/resources that families used. The findings are
illustrated on Table 2. The majority of participants 92.9% (n=13) indicated that they had
children’s reading books, and pencils. In addition, an overwhelming 100% (n=14) of
participants revealed that they had crayons and 78.6% (n=11) had coloring books. Over
46
three quarters of the participants 92.9% (n=13) showed that they had children’s’ puzzles
and over half of the participants 57.1% (n=8), disclosed that they had a computer,
educational DVD’s/CD’s, and alphabet posters. However, very few participants
highlighted that they had alphabet audio tapes 7.1% (n=1), rhymes audio tapes 21.4%
(n=3), and computer games with stories and letters 28.6% (n=4). None of the participants
related that they had any materials other than the ones reflected in the questionnaire.
47
Table 2
Materials and Resources that Families Have
Answer to question
"Which of the following
materials do you have?"
Yes
Which of the
following
materials do
you have?
Children's
reading books
Children's
puzzles
Coloring books
Pencils
Crayons
Alphabets
audio tapes
Rhymes audio
tapes
Computer
Computer
games with
stories and
letters
Educational
DVD's/CD's
Alphabet
posters
Other materials
No
13
92.9%
13
92.9%
1
7.1%
1
7.1%
11
78.6%
13
92.9%
14
3
21.4%
1
7.1%
0
100%
1
7.1%
3
.0%
13
92.9%
11
21.4%
8
57.1%
4
28.6%
78.6%
6
42.9%
10
71.4%
8
57.1%
8
6
42.9%
57.1%
0
6
42.9%
14
48
Research Sub-Question Three: Which literacy Materials/Resources Do Families
Use?
For the research question that aimed at identifying the material/resources that
families used, data was collected using item 13 and 14 of the questionnaire and the results
are shown in Tables 3 and 4. As reflected in Table 3, all participants 100% (n=14) use
pencils in their homes. The findings also show that the majority of participants used
coloring books 92.9% (n=13), children’s puzzles 85.7% (n=12), and crayons 78.6%
(n=11). At least more than half of the participants indicated that they used children’s
reading books 64.3% (n=9) while half 50% (n=7) used educational DVD’s/ CD’s. The
results also illustrate that very few participants used a computer 42.9% (n=6), alphabet
poster 35.7% (n=5), rhyme audio tapes 21.4 % (n=3) and computer games with stories
and letters 21.4% (n=3). Only one participant 7.1% (n=1) indicated that they used other
material at home, the Bible.
49
Table 3
Materials and Resources that Families Use
Answer to question
"Which of the
following materials
do you have?"
Yes
Which of the
Children's reading books
following materials
do you use?
C hildren's puzzles
Coloring books
Pencils
Crayons
Alphabets audio tapes
Rhymes audio tapes
Computer
Computer games with stories and
letters
Educational DVD's/CD's
Alphabet posters
Other materials
No
9
64.3%
5
35.7%
12
2
85.7%
13
92.9%
14
100%
14.3%
1
7.1%
0
0%
11
78.6%
0
0%
3
21.4%
14
100.0%
3
21.4%
6
42.9%
3
11
78.6%
8
57.1%
11
21.4%
7
50.0%
5
35.7%
78.6%
7
50.0%
9
64.3
1
7.1%
13
92.9
50
The information on Table 4 illustrate that the majority of respondents 92.9%
(n=13) go on outings with their preschool children. Participants who revealed that they go
on outings with their children specified that they utilized different community places like
game parks, museums, shopping complexes, restaurants and attended friends and family
functions.
Table 4
Public Places Visited with the Child
Outings
Other
Frequency
13
1
Percentage
92.9
7.1
In addition to the data collected through the questionnaire, interview question six
also yielded information for research sub-question three. The information is narrated
below:
Other Community Places That Parents Use to Promote Their Children’s Literacy
Skills
The findings of the interview question that sought to find out other community
places that the participants used to enhance their children’s literacy skills generated the
51
following themes; parks and game reserve, places of worship, shopping malls, museum,
restaurants, and public library. The themes are discussed below:
Park and game reserve. A total of eight participants 57.1% (n=8) declared that
they often took their preschool children to the park and the game reserve. Participants
informed the researcher that they visited the park during weekends or public holidays for
family picnics or just for fun. Further, participants revealed that they took their children
to the game reserve to show them the animals and the nature reserve.
Places of worship. A total of nine participants 64.3% (n=9) affirmed that they
took their preschoolers to places of worship. Eight of the nine participants revealed that
they took their children to the church while one indicated that they go to a place of
worship which is not a church. Participants who attended church with their children
revealed that their churches had a Sunday school that catered for the preschool age.
Shopping malls. More than half of the participants 71.4% (n=10) indicated that
they take their preschool children with them when they visit shopping malls. Apparently
some of the malls provide free child care services while the parents are doing shopping
this was reflected in the statement made by one of the participants; “there is a shop, a new
shop that has got free child care services, “Square Mart.” “When I’m doing shopping, I
leave my child there. And then they will be studying, coloring, playing games, singing
with the care taker.” Another participant shared “we go to “Game City” mall and my
52
daughter will be asking, “Can you buy this toy? I want this Hannah Montana, I want this,
and I want that.”
As illustrated by the statements of the participants taking children to shopping
areas appear to have a positive bearing on literacy development. Besides, it helps children
to explore new environments and exercise the use of language as depicted in the
statement shared by the latter participant. Against this background, it seems right to
ascertain that taking children out to the shops is one way of enriching children’s literacy
abilities.
Restaurants and offices. Less than half of the participants 28.5% (n=4) stated
that they take their preschool children to the restaurants for social activities often. One of
the activities mentioned was the birthday parties for school mates or for relatives.
Furthermore, participants stated that they also take their preschool children to restaurants
for family functions. One of the participants added that they also take their preschool
child to their offices.
Public library. Surprisingly, all the fourteen participants (100%) revealed that
they never used the public library and were not even thinking about utilizing it for their
preschool children. In fact, all participants seemed surprised when asked if they ever took
their preschoolers to the public library. Participants cited several reasons why they did
not consider the public library for their preschoolers. One of the reasons advanced by the
participants was that the library was too dull for the children’s age. One of the
participants commented: “Mmm… no not yet. Ah…I…just find the library very dull for
53
his age. So I don’t think it’s a good idea to take him there.” They also mentioned that
even the arrangement of the library did not match the preschool age children.
Another reason advanced by the participants regarded the suitability of the public
library for the preschoolers. This sentiment is reflected in what was said by this particular
participant; “not at all, it is not suitable for that age. It is too quiet and the expectations
are just too high.” Participants argued that the preschoolers were at the stage of
exploration and would want to look around the library if taken there, something which
they said was unacceptable at the public library. Furthermore, participants were not even
sure if the public library carried the books suitable for preschool age.
Some participants simply said that they never thought the public library was an
ideal place for the children. When quizzed why they felt that way, the answer was that the
children were still too young to use the public library. However participants considered
the school and church libraries as suitable for preschool children’s use:
“We don’t take our preschooler to the public libraries or whatsoever. I mean for
this small one…, we don’t go to the library. But at our church they set up library
environments for children, toddlers, small little ones… they have their own
environment where they can go and to me that contributes to their literacy
development.”
The statement above was made by the participant justifying their church library use over
the public libraries. From the findings, it appears participants were not necessarily against
the use of library per se, but they doubted its relevance and appropriateness for their
preschool children.
54
Research Sub-Question Four: How Much Time do Parents Spend Interacting With
Their Preschool Children?
Questionnaire items 7-11 were used to gather data for research sub-question four.
Item 11 was however, omitted from the results because it was a replication of item 8. The
responses gathered for questionnaire item 7 indicated that participants read to their
children as follows; 14.3% (n=2) all the time, 14.3% (n=2) often, 42.9% (n=6) sometimes
and 28.6% (n=4) rarely. With regard to writing, the majority of participants 57.1% (n=8)
revealed that they wrote sometimes with their children. Fewer participants 14.3% (n=2)
indicated that they read all the time, and often, while only 7.1% (n=1) participants
showed that they rarely read to their child and another 7.1% (n=1) disclosed that they
never read to their child. From participants’ responses writing with children was an
occasional event in the participants’ homesteads.
For singing, at least half 50% (n=7) of the participants indicated that they sang to
their children all the time, 28.6% (n=4) often, and 21.4% (n=3) sang sometimes to their
children.
The responses for the questionnaire item that sought to find out how often the
participants drew pictures showed that most of the participants 35.7% (n=5) drew
pictures together with their child sometimes, 28.6% (n=4) was recorded for both often
and rarely, and 7.1% (n=1) indicated that they never drew pictures with their child.
The findings for the four questionnaire items outlined above generally show that
participants spent minimal time per week with their children. This information is deduced
from the fact that on average participants revealed that they completed the various
literacy activities with their children at least 1-3 times a week. However, the information
55
gathered can be used in general terms as it does not give specific details of how many
minutes or hours participants spent with the children during each encounter. The findings
are illustrated in Table 5 below.
56
Table 5
Time Spent Interacting with their Preschoolers
Answers to Questions 7 to 10
7. Read with the child
All the time
Often
2
2
14.3
14.3
Sometimes
Rarely
6
4
42.9
28.6
8. Writing with the child
at home
All the time
Often
Sometimes
Rarely
2
2
8
1
14.2
14.2
57.1
7.1
1
7.1
Never
9. Sing with the child at
home
All the time
Often
Sometimes
7
4
3
50
28.6
21.4
10. Draw pictures
together with the child
Often
Sometimes
4
5
28.6
35.7
Rarely
Never
4
1
28.6
7.1
57
For questionnaire item 11, the participants responded as follows: the majority of
participants 35.7% (n=5) rarely told their children tales, 28.6% (n=4) never told their
children tales, 21.4% (n=3) told their children tales, sometimes and 14.3% (n=2) told
their children tales often. In general, telling children tales seemed to be a rare practice
amongst participants. The findings are illustrated in table 6 below.
Table 6
Telling Preschool children Tales
Answers to Questions 11
11. How often do you tell
Frequency
your child tales?
Often
Sometimes
Rarely
Never
2
3
5
4
V Percent
14.3
21.4
37.5
28.6
58
Research Sub-Question Five: What are Parents’ Beliefs about who should Promote
Preschool Children Early Literacy Development?
How children gain literacy skills.
For the interview question that sought to determine the views of the parents on how
children gain literacy skills, the following themes emerged from the responses: learn
from people around them, learn from talking and singing, learn through observation,
learn through play and technological devices. These themes are discussed below.
Learn from the people around them. Out of the fourteen participants, 64.3%
(n=9) of them felt that children gain literacy skills from the people around them. In
particular, five of the nine participants 55.6% (n=5) believed that children gain literacy
skills from siblings, as one participant revealed “they learn mostly from siblings. Like my
child learn from older siblings as they play and she sees them doing things.” Also, three
out of nine participants 33.3% felt that children gained literacy skills from parents and
11.1% (n=1) felt that children gained literacy skills from the school.
According to the information gathered, children learn from older siblings during
their interaction. Participants stated that as children play, younger children gain interest in
the activities that older siblings engage in and try to emulate their seniors and in the
process they acquire literacy skills. Through the participants’ comments it became clear
that older siblings also help their younger brothers and sisters to acquire literacy skills by
59
teaching them what they have learned at school, this was elucidated in the comment made
by one participant commented:
“I observed that it’s advantageous if there are other siblings because you find that
they teach the younger one so many things. It could be colors or they come
discussing any work from school, he will be interested in the activity. Let’s say its
just coloring, when my daughter who is in standard one brings home some school
work like coloring or drawing, my little boy will be interested in the activity. And
my daughter will always try to help him.”
Some participants 33.3% (n=3) were of the opinion that children gain literacy
skills from their parents: “When they watch us-parents doing whatever we do. That’s the
first and foremost of how they learn." Participants also mentioned that parents impart
literacy skills to their children as they play with them. In addition, participants
commented that children gained literacy skills from what they saw parents doing.
Apparently, parents also taught children literacy skills through their daily interactions
with them.
A comment by one of the participants was: “Yes, you find that we tend to send
our children to go get some things around the house. When they come with it, that’s when
we teach them what that object you sent them to get is.” Participants also shared that
sometimes the children themselves created opportunities to be taught by parents. This
according to participants occurred when children asked questions out of curiosity,
prompting parents to give explanations which helped the children acquire literacy skills.
Out of the fourteen participants only one felt that children gain literacy skills from
school. The argument advanced by this participant was that the teachers at school know
60
what age they can introduce the literacy skills. Some of the comments this particular
participant made was that:
“For me the problem is if they are not at school, I have a feeling that this child is
too small. I have all those books but I don’t know when or how to use them for
his age. I feel at school they know what age they can introduce it. Although I
don’t say I don’t do it, I do it. But every day I feel it’s too early for him! It’s too
early for him!”
Talking and singing to the child. Four out of fourteen participants (28.6%) were
of the opinion that children gained literacy skills when they were talked to or sung to.
Participants communicated that they talked and sang to the children from the time they
were born, and that it is through such processes that children learned language skills. A
further explanation given by the participants was that talking and singing to children
helps them to learn words, the proper pronunciation of words, and even sentence
construction.
Learn through observation and copying. Some of the participants 35.7% (n=5)
felt that parents are children’s role models and therefore, children often copy what
parents do at home. As stated by participants, children watch how parents communicate
with other family members and talk in the same manner. It also became clear from
participants’ comments that children’s participation in household chores helps them to
learn many skills that enhance their literacy ability. A statement made by one participant
was that: “While you are cooking you involve the children, impart your cooking skills, in
61
that way the children learn. They can pick some things like the names of the items you
are using and even the procedure you follow. Participants also mentioned that children
learned literacy skills by seeing different things in the household. They gave examples
that children learned to name different things like dogs, windows, and doors by seeing
them and hearing what they are named.
Learn through play and technological devices. Less than half of the participants
28.6% (n=4) believed that play provided an opportunity for children to learn literacy
skills from others. Apparently children who engaged in play activities with others learned
language skills quickly. Participants commented that younger children got highly
motivated to learn when playing with others. Furthermore, participants had the opinion
that play allowed children to see the actual actions, hear the words, and provided a
platform for practice of those actions and words with assistance from the individuals they
are playing with.
Few participants 14.3% (n=2) felt that television and computer programs helped
the children to acquire literacy skills. Participants however made it clear that not all
television programs were good for the children. They emphasized that educational
television and computer programs enhance children’s literacy skills.
62
At What Age Should Early Literacy Skills be Developed?
Four themes emerged for the interview question that sought to establish the age at
which parents thought early literacy skills should be developed. The themes included:
from birth, 18 months, between 24 and 36 months, and between 36 and 48 months.
From birth. About 28.6% (n=4) of the participants felt that early literacy skills
should be developed as soon as children are born. One of these participants highlighted
that children learn more between birth and five years. Participants further elaborated that
talking to the child from birth helps the child to get acquainted to the sound and flow of
words. One of the participants had this to say: “All I can say is that literacy skills can be
developed as early as the child is born through singing and talking to the child.”
18 months.
More than a quarter of the participants 28.6% (n=4) were of the
opinion that early literacy skills should be developed at the age of 18 months. Participants
emphasized that this is an ideal age because children are expected to be uttering their first
words during this time. They further explained that other literacy activities like drawing,
coloring and writing can be introduced as the children mature. Even though all these
participants indicated that 18 months was the most ideal age to introduce early literacy
skills, half (n=2) answered with hesitation, and their responses could be interpreted as
lack of certainty for their answers.
63
24-36 months. A total of 35.7% (n=5) participants indicated that children should
be introduced to early literacy skills between the ages of 24 and 36 months. Even though
the participants felt that this was a reasonable age to introduce literacy skills, they hinted
that children are different and therefore the age at which they are introduced to literacy
skills may vary. One of these participants commented that it is difficult to attach the age
to the introduction of early literacy skills because it depends on how one perceives it.
36-48 months. Only 7.1% (n=1) of the participants thought that children could be
introduced to early literacy skills. The participant however revealed their uncertainty
about the answer before guessing that 36 to 48 months seemed appropriate for
introduction of early literacy skills.
Is the Development of Early Literacy Skills Important?
For interview question three 100% (n=14) of participants acknowledged that
development of early literacy skills is important when answering the interview question
that sought to find out if the development of early literacy skills was important. When
participants were probed why they thought early literacy development is important, a
common theme emerged: prepare children for future learning and fair competition.
Prepares children for future learning and fair competition. All the participants
100% (n=14) indicated that the development of early literacy skills is important because
it sets the stage for the children’s learning in the future. Participants remarked that
64
developing early literacy skills among children does not only equip children with the
essential skills for learning, but also help children to fare comparatively with their age
mates once they start formal schooling. This sentiment was summed up in the comment
made by one participant who uttered that:
“Yeah, it’s critical because it’s laying a very important foundation for the future
of the child. I can say that also looking at our first daughter; we learnt that reading
is very important because if we were to wait until late she wouldn’t be able to
cope with the activities introduced at school. Another thing is that the child would
lag behind when compared with the rest who were exposed to early literacy. And
in this era the child may even opt out of school, not because they don’t like school
but because of intimidation, finding that there is a big gap between them and other
kids.”
Another participant said this about development of early literacy skills: “Definitely,
development of those skills is very important! Especially now because most
children are exposed to literacy skills at a very young age, and this makes the
competition in schools stiffer. If you do not develop your child’s literacy skills,
you are almost killing their potential to learn and they will be lagging behind their
age mates once they start school.”
Participants shared the view that the competition among the children in schools has
become stiffer because more parents are cognizant of the importance of early literacy
development, citing that parents who are unable to do it at home pay schools to do it for
them.
65
Participants also believed that children have the capability to grasp a great deal of
information while they are still young and that it is important for parents to take
advantage of this opportunity to prepare their children for the future. Further comments
centered on making the job of the teachers easier. The participants pointed out that
developing the children’s literacy skills before they entered school relieved the teachers
of the strain of starting learning late, and from scratch. The comment made was: “I mean,
the child has the skills already. The teachers will not start from the scratch teaching the
child that this is your head, these are the fingers… what, what, what. Already he or she
would have learned the skills from home.”
Furthermore, participants mentioned that early learning enhanced brain
development which is critical to children’s learning. Another point raised by the
participants was that developing children’s literacy skills in the early stages actually help
parents to make early identification of whether the child can hear and talk. Apparently,
the parent-child interaction in the home provided a good modem for identifying
irregularities in the child’s development. Overall, the findings gathered through this
interview question indicated the importance participants ascribed to the development of
early literacy skills and provided answers to the study research sub-question five.
66
Research Sub-Question Six: What Challenges do Parents Face in Promoting
Children’s Literacy Skills?
The findings for the research sub-question that aimed at identifying the challenges
parents faced in promoting their children’s literacy skills were generated from interview
question seven.
Participants highlighted several challenges when responding to the interview
question that aimed at identifying the challenges that parents faced in promoting their
children’s early literacy skills. Participants’ responses generated the following themes;
time constraint, gaining children’s interest, resources, no challenges. These themes are
discussed below:
Time constraints. Time constraint seemed to be a major challenge facing
participants as 57.1% (n=8) revealed that it was an obstacle they faced in developing
children’s early literacy skills. Participants felt that they did not have much time to spend
with their children because they all had full-time jobs. According to their responses they
have limited time in the evenings and a bit more time during weekends. However, parents
said they are usually too tired to do anything productive with their children.
Participants also added that even during weekends they still did not have much
time because of other family and social commitments. One of the participants summed up
the challenges the participants faced by stating that” Um… it’s a lot of energy, em… they
need a lot of attention. It takes a lot of energy to promote early literacy skills. Sometimes
it takes a lot of resources, a lot of creativity, and most of the time we as parents don’t
have time…we could create it but it’s not our priority hahaha…, you know what mean?”
67
Apart from having limited time, the participants complained that their children had an
enormous amount of energy of which they could not cope with.
Gaining children’s interest. Four out of fourteen participants (28.5%) stated that
they had difficulty keeping their children interested in the activities they plan for their
kids. Participants lamented that the preschoolers were unpredictable as some of the time
they listen well and participate in the activities planned by parents while other times they
refuse to partake any activity initiated by their parents or siblings. They also raised a
concern that their children could not concentrate on the activities they do with them. One
of the participants however speculated that the parents’ frustration derived from the fact
that they often undermined children’s capability.
Resources. Less than half of the participants 35.7% (n=5) felt that they struggle
with getting the right resources for their preschool children. Participants believed that the
toys, books and other resources essential for the preschool age group were a bit pricey.
They also protested that their kids get easily bored by playing with the same thing several
times and yet there was limited variety in the shops. Two of the five participants shared
that they often grapple with getting the right kind of materials for their child and
therefore perceive that as a challenge. Another participant revealed that they were not
sure if the books they got for their preschooler were suitable because apparently their
preschoolers tore them easily.
68
Research Sub-Question Seven: What Kind of Assistance do Parents Need?
Overall, all participants100% (n=14) indicated that they needed assistance with
one or more of the four areas highlighted in item 15 of the questionnaire. The majority of
the respondents 71.4% (n=10) indicated that they needed assistance with promoting early
literacy development. Also, 64.3% (n=9) of the participants showed that they required
assistance with parental involvement in early literacy while half of the participants 50%
felt that they were in need of information related to literacy resources and their use.
Approximately one-third of the participants 5.7% (n=5) needed to know more
about the importance of early literacy. Only one participant (7.1%) selected the option
“other” and highlighted that they needed information on children’s exposure to television.
In particular, this participant felt that he needed to know if exposing children to television
was beneficial or harmful and also the amount of time the children can be allowed to
watch television. These findings are illustrated in Table 6 below.
69
Table 7
Type of Assistance Needed by Participants
Variables
Importance
Of Early
Literacy
Literacy
Resources
And Use
Yes
Frequency
5
Percentages
%
35.7%
No
9
64.3%
Yes
No
7
7
50.0%
50.0%
Parent
Involvement
In Early
Literacy
Yes
No
9
5
64.3%
35.7%
Promoting
Early
Literacy
Development
Other: Exposure
To TV
Yes
No
10
4
71.4%
28.6%
Yes
No
1
1
7.1%
92.9%
Summary
Both descriptive statistics in the form of frequency tables and the themes
generated through qualitative data were presented in this chapter. The results derived
from the questionnaire and the interviews were used to answer the research questions of
the study. The findings revealed that parents of the University of Botswana Child
Development Laboratory promote their children’ literacy skills using various resources
and materials. The results of both qualitative and quantitative instruments were compared
70
in certain sections and some inconsistencies were identified. The findings are discussed
in the next chapter.
CHAPTER FIVE
DISCUSSION
The purpose of this study was to examine the family literacy practices embraced
by parents of the University of Botswana child development laboratory. The study was a
qualitative research design in the form of interviews with some quantitative method in
data collection phase. Phenomenological qualitative t analysis and descriptive statistics in
the form of frequency tables were used for data analysis. This chapter therefore presents
the discussion of the findings under the study e research questions.
Research Sub- Question one: What Activities do Parents and Children do in the
Home?
The findings presented in the preceding chapter provide evidence that the
University of Botswana parents actively engaged in various literacy enhancing activities
in their family settings. It is clear from the findings that the majority 64.3% (n=9) of
parents of the University of Botswana child development laboratory read, wrote and
discussed pictures, played 57.1% (n=8), held back and forth conversations with their
children 100% (n=14) to enhance their children’s literacy skills. In addition, it is apparent
that a small number of parents used other activities such as singing 42.9% (n=6), story
telling 21.4%% (n=3), drawing and coloring 14.3% (n=2), vacation and outdoor activities
(14.3%) as well as television and educational toys to promote children’s literacy
72
development. The strength of these findings is however weakened by the inconsistencies
identified in the information supplied by the participants for both qualitative and
quantitative instruments.
Reading and writing. The evidence derived from the study however, suggested
that the majority of parents 64.3% (n=9) promoted their children’s literacy skills through
reading and writing and only a small percentage 21.4% (n=3) did not read to their
children. It is also evident that parents of the University of Botswana use reading to
children as an interactive activity as the results show that most of them 64.3% (n=9)
discussed pictures and over half of them 57.1% (n=8) also pointed and repeated words
while reading. Also, it is prevalent that a few parents 7.1% (n=1) to arouse the children’s
interest while reading stories.
This is contrary to earlier research submissions (Molosiwa, 2007) which
highlighted that reading and writing was a rare practice in Botswana families, and that
printed material was scarce. If this variance of findings is something to go by, then one
can comfortably speculate that there has been a promising improvement with regard to
literacy development of children within homes in Botswana. The findings however,
resonate well with earlier studies (Perry et al., 2008; & Rodriguez, 2006) which also
found that reading and writing activities were part of the daily routine in family settings
and emphasized that parents should involve different attention arousing actions during
reading to avoid boredom (Bingham, 2007).
From the results therefore, it can be deduced that most of the parents of the
University of Botswana child development laboratory understand the importance of
73
reading and writing which has been elucidated by research (Aram, Most & Mayafit,
2006). As illustrated previously, reading and writing serves several purposes in children’s
development. Other than bringing sheer excitement of spending time with a parent, story
reading provides an opportunity to learn new words and follow the order of events (Brock
& Rankin, 2008).
Play. It is not surprising that the majority of the participants identified play as one
of the mediums they use to impart literacy skills to their children because previous
studies have revealed similar findings. In fact, studies conducted by Geiner and Alant
(2005), Molosiwa (2007)revealed that young children in Botswana generally gained
literacy skills through play. The results of the current study however, added a new twist
to the existing knowledge brought in by previous studies (Geiner and Alant, 2005;
Molosiwa 2007) by revealing that play could involve even parents. Previous studies
emphasized that children learned literacy skills through playing with siblings or other
children, and it is interesting to know that even parents get involved in play activities
because research (Brock & Rankin, 2008) has underscored the importance of parental
involvement in play activities.
Back and forth conversations. As shown by the results of this study all
participants 100% (n=14) revealed that they have back and forth conversations with their
preschool children. The evidence gathered show that participants have daily unstructured
conversations with their children. It is also clear that these conversations may stem out of
the discussion of the child’s feelings, the child’s day experiences or can be provoked by
74
the questions asked by the children. These findings contradict what was discovered
earlier by Geiner and Alant (2005). Instead of discouraging children from expressing
their opinions and asking questions, the findings revealed that parents of the University of
Botswana child development laboratory welcomed children’s questions and felt that
questions provided opportunities for learning and expanding children’s vocabulary.
Basically, children who are talked to tend to acquire language skills more quickly than
their peers who are not talked to. Therefore, having back and forth communication with
children is often seen as a catalyst of literacy development.
Among the activities that were revealed by this study, it surfaced that few parents
promoted children’s literacy skills through singing 42.9% (n=2), storytelling 21.4%
(n=3), household chores 14.3% (n=2), vacation and outdoor activities 14.3% (n=2), and
television and educational toys 35.7% (n=5). The limited usage of the activities listed
above may be partly because parents were not aware of their essence in the development
of children’s literacy skills. However, engaging children in such activities can aide their
literacy skill development. For example, through singing children can acquire knew
words and expand their vocabulary as well as learn ordering of words. Similarly,
storytelling is perceived as an excellent way of developing children’s literacy skills
(Brock & Rankin, 2008).
Although very little research has been done on the use of household chores as a
learning opportunity for children, some studies (Akhtar & Jipson, 2001; Rogoff et al.,
2003) have revealed that children acquire language skills by observing and imitating
others. Also, these findings are consistent with what previous studies (Geiner & Alant
2005) have discovered. Family vacations also expose children to new environments and
75
arouse their desire for exploration and enquiry, and this helps them to refine their
language skills. Likewise, proper use of television and educational toys can help promote
children’s listening and language skills.
Research Sub-Question Two: Which Materials/Resources do Families Have?
It is clear from the findings that parents of the University of Botswana child
development laboratory have literacy rich home environments. Overall, the majority of
respondents indicated that they had children’s books, children’s puzzles, coloring books,
pencils, and crayons. At least over half of the participants also indicated that they had a
computer, educational DVD’s/CD’s, and alphabet posters and few had computer games,
rhyme audio tapes and alphabet audio tapes. The findings of the current study are a direct
deviation from earlier submissions which revealed that ownership of basic literacy
materials like paper, pencils, and crayons were restricted to school going children
(Molosiwa, 2007; Rodriguez, 2006). Also, the current evidence showed an extended list
of literacy materials in the homes.
Literacy rich environments allow children to interact and explore with a variety of
materials. According to Makin & Whitehead (2004) providing accessibility of literacy
resources like books to children enable them to interact with words and print and
ultimately enhanced literacy skills. Nevertheless, the availability of literacy materials in
the home is not sufficient for children’s literacy development. Rather, literacy materials
should be available and accessible to children for them to be beneficial. For example, it
has been argued that development of children’s literacy skills only take place in settings
where books are valued and reading and writing are modeled (Oglan & Elcombe, 2000).
76
The latter is presumed to apply to the current study given that participants were not only
members of a high institute of learning but some of the participants were academic staff
members and students.
Research Sub-Question Three: Which Materials/Resources do Families Use?
It is evident from the findings that parents of the University of Botswana child
development laboratory used a variety of materials and resources to develop children’s
literacy skills. As shown by the results most parents used children’s reading books,
children’s puzzles, coloring pencils, crayons and educational DVD’s/CD’s. Also, a small
number of parents utilized rhymes audio tapes, computers, and computer games with
stories and letters and alphabet posters.
However, previous studies found that the only literacy materials that were
available for literacy development in Botswana were textbooks for school going children
(Molosiwa, 2007). The implication advanced by the study was that the household did not
have any literacy materials for younger children. The findings are not surprising though
because Weigel, Martin and Bennet (2005) linked children of parents with higher levels
of education, incomes, literacy skills and positive school experiences to good literacy
skills. Based on the demographic information supplied by the participants, it can be
speculated that the socio-economic status of the participants allowed them to acquire and
use various literacy materials for their preschool children.
The use of various literacy resources has been linked with children’s literacy
development. Senechal & LeFevre (2002) tied children’s exposure to books to
77
development of vocabulary and listening comprehension skills. Likewise, Makin &
Whitehead (2004) argued that accessibility of books enabled children to interact with
words and print. Furthermore, studies have also emphasized that home computer use
enhances children's ability to read and visualize images (Subrahmanyam, Kraut,
Greenfield, and Gross, 2000).
Other than having a variety of literacy materials, the findings revealed that
participants used outings to enhance their children’s early literacy skills. It is evident
from the findings that participants took their children to parks and game reserves, places
of worship, and shopping malls. Besides helping children to become familiar with the
environments around them, outings provide children with an excellent opportunity to
interact with their parents and other people. In addition, they give children a chance to
expand their language skills through asking questions. Evidence from this study further
diverges from initial findings of studies conducted in Botswana (Geiner and Alant, 2005;
Molosiwa, 2007) which implied that there was limited interaction between children and
their parents. Again, the variability between the current and the former studies may be
attributed to the demographic variance of the populations used.
The study also revealed shocking results; none of the participants used the public
library for their preschoolers. Participants revealed that the public libraries were not
appropriate for young children. However, research has shown that exposing young
children to library use help promote their confidence in the skills that support future
learning (Brock & Rankin, 2008). These findings therefore, prompt further investigations
of the services offered by the public libraries and whether the libraries carry resources
and materials relevant to the preschool age-group. Further, it will be worthwhile to carry
78
out a general national survey of public library use by parents and preschool children in
order to understand the extend and depth of the phenomenon.
Research Sub-Question Four: How much time do parents spend with their
preschool children?
From the evidence supplied by the study most of the participants indicated that
they read 42.9% (n=6), wrote 57.1% (n=8), and drew 35.7 (n=5) with their children 1-3
times per week. A few participants indicated that they read 14.3% (n=2), wrote 14.3%
(n=2) and drew 28.6% (n=2) with their children 7 or more times per week. The findings
therefore, indicate that parents do spend some time with their children but is not specific
about amount of time spent.
Research Sub-Question Five: What are parents’ beliefs about who should promote
preschool children early literacy development?
To answer this research question information from several sections of the
questionnaire and interview items were used. It is clear from the findings that the
majority of participants believe that young children gain literacy skills from the people
around them and parents. In addition, the responses for the first interview question show
that the majority of participants felt that children’s literacy skills should be developed
between birth and three years. Also, participants unanimously felt that the development
of early literacy skills were important. Based on these findings it can be concluded that
participants were of the opinion that parents are responsible for developing preschool
children’s literacy skills.
79
Research Sub-Question Six: What challenges do parents face in promoting
children’s literacy skills?
The results of the study show that the majority of participants’ main challenge
was time. It is clear that participants were grappling with balancing their time among
family and employment demands. As one participant noted “time is a major challenge. It
is difficult to balance the time for working, being a mother and other social commitments.
From the information gathered through the interviews, it also became apparent that
parents seemed not to have adequate time to spend with the children mainly because
spending time with their children is not in their list of priorities. As one participant stated
“for me the little time I have is trying to… I know money is not very important but it but
it’s very important we use every time. The little time we have, we say how do I make
more money?”
Less than half of the participants also mentioned resources (35.7%) and gaining
children’s interest (28.6%) as the challenges they faced. Acquisition of resources did not
seem to be much of the problem for the participants as reflected in the amount of
resources they had, however, choosing the right kind of resources seemed to be a
challenge for some of the participants. This makes sense given the fact that for literacy
development to take place the resource used should be ideal.
Research Sub-Question Seven: What kind of assistance do parents need?
Responses made to item 15 of the questionnaire illustrated that the most
participants needed assistance with promoting early literacy development. In addition,
80
more than half of the participants felt that they needed assistance with parental
involvement and literacy resources and their use. Few participants reflected that they
were in need of information about the importance of early literacy and only one parent
wanted to be educated about the use of television for young children. In light of the
findings, it is clear that there is need initiate and implement parenting education programs
so as to address the deficiencies identified by this study.
CHAPTER SIX
CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS
The purpose of this study was to examine the family literacy practices embraced
by parents of the University of Botswana child development laboratory. The study was a
qualitative research design in the form of interviews with some quantitative method in
data collection phase. Phenomenological approach and descriptive statistics in the form
of frequency tables were used for data analysis. The conclusions and recommendations of
the study are presented in this chapter.
Conclusions
Based upon the findings and within the limitations of the study, several
conclusions are drawn. First, the present study demonstrated both similarities and
differences identified in the existing literature. Similar to earlier research by Perry et al.
(2008); Rodriguezgar (2006) this study found that reading and writing were embedded in
family daily activities. On the other hand, the current study has revealed that parents of
the University of Botswana Child Development Laboratory used various literacy
resources to enhance their children’s literacy skills development. These findings differ
with previous studies (Molosiwa, 2007) which indicated that literacy development in
Botswana is predominantly oral with scarce literacy materials and resources. Further, it is
apparent that parents of the University of Botswana engaged various unstructured
82
activities to enhance children’s literacy development in their homes. The findings
revealed that the majority of parents used reading, writing, play, and back and forth
conversations for development of children’s early literacy skills. In addition a small but
significant number of parents used singing, storytelling, vacation and outdoor activities as
well as educational toys for children’s early literacy development.
Also, the findings indicated that families of the University of Botswana Child
Development Laboratory have and used a variety of literacy materials and resources to
develop their children’s literacy skills. In particular, the majority of participants used
children’s books, children’s puzzles, coloring books, pencils and crayons. In addition,
more than half of the participants also revealed that they had a computer, educational
DVD’s/CD’s, and alphabet posters. This is a good sign for children’s early literacy
development. As already mentioned, it is important that children have easy access to
books (Makin & Whitehead, 2004) to enable them to interact with words and print.
Apparently, availability of a variety of literacy resources and materials signifies a literacy
rich environment, and children who are raised in such settings thrive.
Parents of the University of Botswana believed that they are responsible for
developing their children’s literacy skills. This stems from the findings which showed
that the majority of participants believed that children’s literacy skills should be
developed between birth and three years. Past research studies have also identified the
period between birth and five years as ideal for early literacy development and a way to
ensure a successful future in children’s reading and writing (Siegler, Deloache &
Eisengberg, 2006; Morrison 2008).
83
Time constraint is a major challenge facing parents of the university of Botswana
child development laboratory. As shown by the findings of this study, the majority of
participants indicated that they had problems balancing time among work demands,
parental roles and social commitments. While this constraint affected the time
participants spent with their children, parental involvement is deemed highly essential for
the development of children’s early literacy skills.
Based on the findings of this study, there is need to educate parents of the
University of Botswana Child Development Laboratory on promoting early literacy
development, parental involvement, early literacy resources and their use, the importance
of early literacy, public library use, and the use of television for young children.
Although the current study has shown that parents provided a variety of materials and
resources for their children, it is clear that parents were uncertain about their attempts to
develop their children’s literacy skills, highlighting the need for assistance in various
areas.
Essentially, parents need to be educated about the importance of their
involvement in children’s early literacy development, what to guard against, as well as
when and how to promote children’s early literacy skills. Different programs can be put
in place to address this identified need. For instance, newsletters and PTA meetings can
be used to disseminate the information pertaining to early literacy development. In
addition, web-resources for parents can be incorporated into the current University of
Botswana Child Development Laboratory website. This way, parents can have free and
easy access to the information each time they need it.
84
Therefore, addressing parents’ deficiencies is vital given that direct participation
of parents in children’s literacy related activities helps children to develop school
readiness skills (Farver, Xu, Eppe & Lonigan, 2006). Also, it is clear from research
(Bennet, Weigel, & Martin, 2002; Senechal &LeFevre, 2002) that the development of
early literacy skills among children sets the stage for future learning. Besides, Oglan &
Elcombe (2000) children are capable of developing literacy skills in environments where
family members model these skills. The implication therefore is that availing literacy
materials alone is inadequate in developing children’s early literacy skills, but should be
coupled with parent participation. In this regard, developing and implementing parent
education programs might help parents to improve their participation and current early
literacy development practices for improved development of literacy skills among
children.
Limitations
The findings of the present study should be interpreted cautiously in light of some
limitations. As a qualitative study, the research is limited in its ability to be generalized.
This research was based on the qualitative investigation of fourteen participants in a
particular context. The findings are enriching to family literacy research. However,
broader application would require observations and replication of the research in various
contexts. The findings and conclusions generated are of potential value to parents and all
stakeholders. This research has provided current and new information about the practices,
the material resources, parents beliefs about who should develop children’s literacy skills
as well as the amount of time parents spend with their preschool children.
85
Further, the use of self-report questionnaires to assess the home literacy practices
is always subject to bias. Parents might have had trouble estimating the frequencies of
their own behavior and that of their children. Moreover, because most parents know that
they are “supposed” to stimulate the development of literacy skills for their children, they
may have over-reported the frequencies of their literacy behaviors. Certainly, it would
have been more optimal to cross-validate parents’ reports with home observations. Given
the fact that many households for working parents in Botswana utilize the services of
house maids, this study may have missed essential information as it did not explore the
role that house maids played the development of children’s early literacy. Nevertheless,
there is a possibility that the maids for the families that participated in this study may be
having an influence in early literacy development of children.
Despite these limitations, there are many strengths of this study that make it a
very important contribution to the literature. First, the study provides important
information about the family literacy practices in Botswana which is a direct deviation
from the understanding provided by previous research. Thus, providing evidence to
further challenge the notion that family literacy development in Botswana is
predominantly oral with less written material in the homes, and that parents are not
actively involved in children’s literacy-related activities. Secondly, the study engaged
multiple instruments to assess literacy practices in the homes, including questionnaires
and interviews. This helped in cross-validating the results for validity and reliability.
Overall, these results have important implications for future research studies examining
the family literacy practices and children’s development of literacy skills in Botswana.
86
Recommendations
The following recommendations are made as a result of the foregoing study:
A similar qualitative study which includes interviews and observations should
be conducted with the same population in order to address the inconsistencies that
emerged during data collection of this study. This will help to generate findings that are
more reliable and valid. Furthermore, a follow up study with the same sample should be
undertaken to find out if the families used for the current study have maids and whether
the maids do literacy related activities with the children. It is recommended that further
research on family literacy practices in a different context be conducted, building on this
study. For example, it would be desirable to further explore the trends and themes found
in the family literacy practices, across other geographic, ethnic, cultural, and socioeconomic groups. This will help to identify if the findings of the current study apply to
the families of Botswana in general. Another logical step in further research would be to
conduct a longitudinal study involving children from the families that participated in this
study in order to understand the impact of family literacy practices on children’s
performance as they progress through the levels of education.
A parenting program should be developed and implemented to address the needs
identified by the current study. Families are children's first educators and play a critical
role in young children's literacy development. Studies have shown that young children's
future success is related to their early literacy experiences (Saracho, 2002) in the home.
In essence, family practices determine young children's literacy skills prior to formal
instruction. However, as evidenced by the findings of the current study families may not
87
be aware of the best practices in developing children’s literacy development. Therefore,
relevant parent education programs can help families of young children improve their
awareness and knowledge of optimal literacy development. By providing families with
specific strategies to support their children's literacy skills, families may increase their
understanding of early literacy development.
It will also be interesting to investigate the services offered by the public libraries
in order to understand the services and materials they have available for preschoolers.
The recommended study is important given that the findings derived from the current
study indicated 0% use of public libraries by participants and their preschool children.
Therefore, examining what public libraries have to offer to preschool children and their
families will provide important information for the parents as well as help the public
libraries to improve the services they may currently have for the preschoolers.
In addition, the information derived from such a study may be used to educate
parents about the services available for families and preschool children. This may help
create a stronger interest in library use, help teach young children to understand,
appreciate and use public libraries and consequently have a good impact on children’s
early literacy development. Besides, as already indicated by Brock & Rankin (2008)
library use develop children’s confidence in book handling, story reading and finding
information from reference books to support later learning.
88
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APPENDIX A
Interview Questions
1. In your own view, how do children gain literacy skills?
2. At what age should early literacy skills be developed?
3. Is the development of early literacy skills important?
4. What do you do at home to promote your child’s early literacy skills?
5. When you read with your child, do you do anything in particular to help your child
become literate?
6. Which other places in the community do you use to promote your child’s early
literacy skills?
7. What challenges do you face as a parent in promoting your child’s early literacy
skills?
8. How often do you have a back and forth conversation with your preschooler?
9. What do you normally talk about?
10. Is there any other information that you think would be useful for me to know?
Thank you very much for coming this afternoon. Your time is very much
appreciated and your comments have been very helpful.
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APPENDIX B
Parent Questionnaire
Section A: Demographic Information
For each of the questions in this section indicate your answers by checking the
appropriate box.
Gender: Male
1. Age:
25 years or below
26 – 35 years
36 – 45 years
46 years and above
2. What is your highest level of education?
Certificate
Diploma
Undergraduate
Masters
PhD
Other (please specify)
Female
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3. What is your current position?
Academic Staff
Support Staff
Student
Other (please specify)
4. How old is your preschool child/ren who is/are enrolled in the UB Child
Development
Laboratory?
Child 1
Child 2
2.5-3 years
2.5-3 years
3-4 years
3-4 years
Other (please specify)______________
specify___________
Other (please
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SECTION B: Literacy Activities that Parents do with Children
For question 6, check all the activities that apply (you can check as many as
possible). For question 6 to 11 choose only one answer.
6. Which of the following do you do with your preschool child at home? (Tick all
that apply).
Read the books together
Teach alphabets
Play games together
Sing rhymes together
Draw pictures together
Write with your child
Tell my child tales
7. How often do you read to your child at home?
All the time (7 or more times a week)
Sometimes (4 – 6 times a week)
Rarely (1 to 3 times per week)
Never
Other (please specify)……………………………….
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8. How often do you write with your child at home?
9. All the time (7 or more times a week)
Sometimes (4 to 6 times a week)
Rarely (1 to 3 times a week)
Never
Other (please specify)……………………………….
9. How often do you sing with your child at home?
All the time (7 or more times a week)
Sometimes (4 to 6 times a week)
Rarely (1 to 3 times a week)
Never
Other (please specify)……………………………….
10. How often do you draw with your child at home?
All the time (7 or more times a week)
Sometimes (4 to 6 times a week)
Rarely (1 to 3 times a week)
Never
Other (please specify)……………………………….
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11. How often do you write with your child at home?
All the time (7 or more times a week)
Sometimes (4 to 6 times a week)
Rarely (1 to 3 times a week)
Never
Other (please
specify)………………………………………………………………………
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SECTION C: Materials and Resources
For this section check all items that are applicable to you.
12. Which of the following materials do you have?
Children’s reading books
Number of books ___________
Children’s puzzles
Number of Puzzles___________
Coloring books
Pencils
Crayons
Alphabet audio tapes
Rhymes audio tapes
Computer
Computer games with stories and letters
Educational DVD’s/CD’S
Alphabet posters
Other (please specify)………………………………………………………..
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13. .Which of the following materials does your child use?
Children’s reading books
Children’s puzzles
Coloring books
Crayons
Pencils
Alphabet audio tapes
Rhymes audio tapes
Computer
Computer games with stories and letters
Educational DVD’s/CD’S
Alphabet posters
Other (please specify)
…………………………………………………………………………………………
…………………………………………………………………………………………
…………………………………………………………………………………………
14. What other places do you visit with your child?
Library
Go on outings with the child
(specify)……………………………………………………………………………
…………………………………………………………………………………………
…………………………………………………………………………………………
………………..............
Other (specify)
…………………………………………………………………………………………
………..…………………………………………………………………………………
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15. What type of assistance do you need regarding the issue of early literacy
development?
Importance of early literacy
Information about literacy resources and use
Parent involvement in early literacy
Promoting early literacy development
Other (specify)……………………………………………………………………
……………………………………………………………………………………
……………………………………………………………………………………
Thank you for your responses!
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APPENDIX C
Permit: Ministry of Education and Skills Development
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APPENDIX D
Permit: Department of Home Economics Education, University of Botswana
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APPENDIX E
IRB Approval
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APPENDIX F
Participant Consent Form
Study Title
The Role of Family Literacy Practices in Children’s Development of Literacy Skills in Botswana.
Study Purpose and Rationale
The purpose of this research project is to examine the family literacy practices embraced by
parents of children at the University of Botswana Child Development Laboratory. Findings from
this research may be used to inform the development and implementation of parent education
programs for the University of Botswana Child Development Laboratory. It is also hoped that the
results of the study will sensitize the parents and all stakeholders about the importance of
developing children’s early literacy skills. Further, the study will provide a unique contribution to
the literature by adding new information to the existing knowledge of family literacy practices
and early literacy in developing countries.
Inclusion/Exclusion Criteria
To be eligible for this study, the participants must be parents (either biological or adoptive
parents) and have one or more of their children enrolled in the UB Child Development
Laboratory. In the case where there are two parents in the family (mom and dad), only one
parent will be expected to participate in the study. Only parents who are 18 years and above
(legal adults) will be eligible to participate in the study. In case there may be parents who are
under the age of 18 years, they will be excluded from the study because they will be under age.
The subject population will be restricted to the UB Child Development laboratory because the
findings of the proposed study will be used to inform the design of parenting education
programs offered by UB.
Participation Procedures and Duration
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For this project, you will be interviewed and asked to complete a questionnaire about the
literacy practices. The interview will take approximately 30 minutes, and the questionnaire will
take 7 to 10 minutes to complete.
Audio or Video Tapes
For purposes of accuracy, with your permission, the interviews will be audio taped. Any names
used on the audiotape will be changed to pseudonyms when the tapes are transcribed. The
tapes will be stored in a locked filing cabinet at the researcher’s home for three years and will
then be erased.
Disclosure of Alternative Procedures
Not applicable
Data Confidentiality or Anonymity
All data will be maintained as confidential and no identifying information such as names will
appear in any publication or presentation of the data.
Storage of Data
Paper data will be stored in a locked filing cabinet in the researcher’s home for three years and
will then be shredded. The data will also be entered into a software program and stored on the
researcher’s password-protected computer for three years and then deleted. Only the
researcher and the thesis advisor will have access to the data.
Risks or Discomforts
The only anticipated risk from participating in this study is that you may not feel comfortable
answering some of the questions. You may choose not to answer any question that makes you
uncomfortable and you may quit the study at any time.
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Who to Contact Should You Experience Any Negative Effects from Participating in this Study
Not applicable
Benefits
The personal benefits for participation include receiving a copy of the results of the study upon
request.
Voluntary Participation
Your participation in this study is completely voluntary and you are free to withdraw your
permission at anytime for any reason without penalty or prejudice from the investigator. Please
feel free to ask any questions of the investigator before signing this form and at any time during
the study.
RB Contact Information
For one’s rights as a research subject, you may contact the following: Research Compliance,
Sponsored Programs Office, Ball State University, Muncie, IN 47306, (765) 285-5070,
irb@bsu.edu.
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Study Title The Role of Family Literacy Practices in Children’s Development of Literacy Skills in
Botswana.
Consent
I, ___________________, agree to participate in this research project entitled, “The Role of
Family Literacy Practices in Children’s Development of Literacy Skills in Botswana.” I have had
the study explained to me and my questions have been answered to my satisfaction. I have
read the description of this project and give my consent to participate. I understand that I will
receive a copy of this informed consent form to keep for future reference.
To the best of my knowledge, I meet the inclusion/exclusion criteria for participation (described
on the previous page) in this study.
________________________________
_________________
Participant’s Signature
Date
Researcher Contact Information
Principal Investigator:
Faculty Supervisor:
Marea M. Tsamaase, Graduate Student
Dr. Scott Hall
Family and Consumer Sciences
Family and Consumer Sciences
Ball State University
Ball State University
Muncie, IN 47306
Muncie, IN 47306
Telephone: (765) 214-0086
Telephone: (765) 285-5943
Email: mmtsamaase@bsu.edu
Email: sshall@bsu.edu